At Last
by LittleMaeChan
Summary: Living with a heartbreak ever since Kidou rejected him, Sakuma believes it's time to move on. And a particular brunet was sure going to change his mind and make his heart skip a beat. Fudou x Sakuma fic! Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1 - Perhaps

**Author's Note: Hi, it's been awhile! I'm back with a FuSaku fic, because I find them adorable and they need more love! This is totally for fun, so if things are a bit inaccurate or any other small mistakes, I'm sorry. This fic will contain some swearing (Only here and there), and some... Suggestive content (you know what I mean) but nothing too serious! Happy reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven!**

* * *

Walking down the street at a steady rhythm, a cloud of smoke escaped Sakuma's reddened lips as he sighed after another tiring day at Teikoku. It was already mid-January, a difficult month to get through as the cold was merciless. Although, they luckily did manage to get some snow in December at least, which made the blunet content at having another "White Christmas". But winter just wasn't Sakuma's favorite season after all. The wind seemed like frozen blades on his cheeks, and the bitter pain in his knuckles was a reminder of this morning's mistake; forgetting his gloves. He held tightly on his apartment key, causing the jagged edges to dig into his palm, wishing to be at home already.

Soon enough, Sakuma noticed how his life was beginning to be stuck in a loop, as each day resembled each other. Thinking turning a year older recently to "the important age" as Genda would say, would improve anything but to no avail. Sakuma knows well how habits and lives don't change by themselves in a day or two, but deep down—he was hoping for an escape route. An exit to his daily life which wasn't fun anymore. Ever since he confessed his love to his best friend Kidou, almost four months ago from now, the rejection hit hard. So hard it somehow still affected him to this day, when some people would have already moved on. But for Sakuma… It wasn't that easy. His copper eye focused on the pretty navy ocean of stars above him, carrying a sentiment of melancholy as he admired the full moon.

"Reach for the moon, huh...?"

* * *

Finally arrived at his apartment door, he enteredquietly with a sigh of relief. The sudden wave of warmth was pleasant, and the blunet could not wait to reunite with his sofa. There was nothing better than lying on his soft sofa after a long, cold day. Sakuma has lived alone in this cozy apartment for two years now, as his parents believed it would be a good way for their son to mature. At first, it seemed slightly absurd to Sakuma as his parents were always away for job related things either ways; leaving Sakuma home alone very often, being an only child. It felt wrong, especially since his parents insisted to pay for his rent and education. But he didn't argue, as that was surely was the best gift his parents gave him. Let's say his little job four times a week at a café evidently wasn't enough to support himself. Some of his friends couldn't believe he worked as a barista of all things. Honestly, he didn't know either.

Sakuma swiftly fished out his phone out of his coat's pocket to check on messages and what-not. Being in a group-chat of very extroverted teenagers resulted in many, many messages at any hour of the day. Sakuma didn't take much part, but some of the discussions were pretty funny, and sometimes even interesting. Often he wondered why he was even added in that group-chat. He sat down on of his sofa's cushions, smiling at the new unseen message below his eye.

 **Takanashi Shinobu: sent 17:44**

 **Happy late 18 Sakuma! Why didn't you tell me earlier, I would have gotten u something! I know we don't hang out much but come on, 18!**

Surprisingly not from the group chat, but from Shinobu. Shinobu is one of these girls who loves messing about and known to be a trickster. Always full of surprises, but most of the time a polite girl, if you just didn't get on her nerves. Not really Sakuma's type of friend, but they grew a small friendship when she learnt he worked as a barista at the close café she likes. It's a sort of friendship that grows slowly but surely. Sakuma couldn't deny he enjoyed her presence at the café, specifically coming on his shift. At times, Shinobu even brought several friends with her, to which she refers as her 'gang' in her messages. He recognised a few faces from Raimon, which he would love to know how they even became friends. Said gang also included Fudou. Fudou Akio, a guy full of mysteries, since Sakuma considers him as someone completely unreadable. He's probably the leader of the gang or something, as his reputation is the worst; always bringing trouble wherever he goes, impatient as he is. Thinking about it, the blunet realized how long it's been since he talked to him. Years ago when they were fourteen, they were teammates and rivals, where they very often hung out together, shockingly. Sakuma frowned as he remembered his annoying ass personality along with his sharp tongue from back then.

 **sent 18:06**

 **Sorry for not telling you, I'm really busy these days..**

Technically, he was not wrong. But he wasn't _that_ busy that he couldn't tell her about his upcoming birthday beforehand. Sakuma is simply not really used to celebrate his birthday anymore, since he turned thirteen or somewhere around that time. Most people he was friends with didn't even know his birthday, that was how bad it was. It's a little better since, fortunately. Perhaps deep down Sakuma wishes to be as involved in his friendships like Shinobu. Going out until its super late and messing around. It wasn't a particularly good thing to do, and wasn't Sakuma's style either. Yet he could find a new side of himself and actually have fun. Every day. If he became closer to Shinobu, there was a potential chance to talk to Fudou again as well. He seemed to have changed these past four years. Growing out his hair was the first obvious thing Sakuma noticed; it did fit him more, although it was still messy as ever. However there was no doubt he was still a troublemaker, maybe a little worse than before. But that's nothing new to him.

The blunet sighed as he locked his phone and placed the black screen on his abdomen, slowly slouching unto the cushions. Sakuma knew his hair was a mess when he reached for a strand on his shoulder, fiddling it between his tingling fingers as they still stung from the cold. A good, warm shower was definitely needed. Sakuma stayed in his slouched position for a few more minutes, too comfortable to move. But before he began feeling sleepy, he was reminded of things such as the project he was working on that needed to be finished for next week. The project he's working on with Kidou… When Sakuma thought about Kidou, even someone simply mentioning his name was a small stab in the blunet's chest. And it was getting on his nerves, that he was still so heartbroken now. Kidou probably forgot about it since then. He was never interested in love—at least that's what it seemed to Sakuma. Always so focused on his studies. If it's what makes him happy… The blunet ran a hand through his long blue hair, trying to resist his torturous thoughts. That's right, a shower.

After many efforts to just stand up, the blunet placed his phone on the wooden table in front of him before walking to his bathroom. He gently removed his eyepatch first, glaring at his now exposed eye in the clean mirror above his sink. His sclera was completely black, almost stealing away the bronze of his iris. He blinked continuously as his eye wasn't fully adjusted to the light yet as it watered a little. Sakuma didn't like it. This eye of his that looked so wrong, almost frightening to look at. Yet, he learned to live with it. It wasn't as if he had a choice anyway, as he was born with it. Although the blunet lacked in self-esteem to leave with his eyepatch. It was a habit since childhood to wear an eyepatch each time he would step outside. After his eye adjusted, he continued undressing from his Teikoku's deep green uniform, and turned on the water to shower.

* * *

"Hey, ya know Sakuma? Sakuma Jirou?" Sipping on her coffee from Starbucks, a young girl with vibrant pink curly hair asked the taller male sat opposite her. Her eyes were glued on her phone while her rose acrylic nails tapped repeatedly on the screen as she scrolled down a conversation. "Yeah? What about him?" The other teen replied after yawning like a lion, his eyes now slightly watery. His brown curls were in a mess, and his shirt wasn't buttoned all the way due to the heat in the room. "Well, it was his birthday a week ago," Shinobu began explaining with a smile, pulling the cup away from her lips, her lip gloss leaving a glittery stain on her straw. Resting her chin on the back of her hand, Fudou could tell that this expression meant Shinobu had something in mind-often being a bad sign. "And I was thinking about giving him a secret birthday party!" She exclaimed with a grin, lifting her sapphire orbs upwards to look at Fudou. The brunet instantly raised an eyebrow at her idea, almost letting out a laugh.

"A week after?" Fudou smirked, although he truthfully didn't have any objections with her plans, yet. If it was an excuse to party then why not, honestly. "Yeah, well, that's because the party pooper didn't tell me it was his birthday!" Shinobu frowned, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "Turning eighteen isn't something to scorn at, y'know!" The brunet instantly grinned as he remembered the chaos of his eighteenth birthday party, undoubtedly organised by the one and only Shinobu. "That's for sure." Fudou was already smiling ear to ear with the thought of wrecking Sakuma's place. The blunet needs some spice, some reckless fun in his life otherwise he's going to turn like _goggle-man_ , and Fudou didn't need another Kidou. One is already too much. The teen grabbed his cup and began gulping down his drink swiftly, looking forward to this. "I kinda want him to join the gang by the way," Fudou's eyes suddenly widen in surprise, almost spitting out his drink on his friend. "Wh-what?!" He choked on his word as he coughed, Shinobu grinning at the sight. Fudou knew Shinobu was growing closer to Sakuma, but he wasn't expecting her to enjoy his company _this_ much. Plus, his relationship with him is a little awkward as they didn't hang out for so long. But he does remember how fun he was to tease years back. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea, but he couldn't imagine Sakuma, an intelligent student surrounded by troublemakers like him. It was almost funny to think about.

"Hey, I saw how you stared at him before, I bet you want to talk to him again." Shinobu giggled childishly, rubbing salt in the wound. "Don't get weird ideas into your head," Fudou frowned, almost embarrassed as he realized he surely couldn't hide anything from Shinobu after all. Alright, he might have glanced a little at the blunet while they hung out at the café he worked at—but nothing to interpret from that.

"Yeah, sure… Well, I'll invite him to hang out with us sometime. Y'know so you can talk n'all and then BAM! Secret birthday party!" Fudou raised his eyebrows once more at his friend's excitement. If Shinobu wants to do something, there's a small chance you can stop her. And this was one of these times. "Do what you want." Fudou sighed, gaining a 'yay' from Shinobu before she began texting on her phone once more. The brunet sipped on his coffee again, looking out one of the big windows of the café. Talking about the blunet triggered memories Fudou had with him, which were mostly not too bad. Yet a few are not surprising they caused Sakuma to distance himself from him. After all he was just some rude asshole who was always causing trouble. But even someone like Fudou noticed how Sakuma seemed… Strange. Definitely hiding something. It wasn't just fatigue or stress, it's something deeper, more painful. Fudou has a talent to read people's emotions, and someone miserable is the easiest to tell by their behavior and body language. As sensitive the blunet is, although he tries to hide it, he's probably still heartbroken from back then. The brunet knew about Sakuma's crush on Kidou since middle school, and when he finally confessed to _goggle-man_ , without astonishment Kidou turned him down. Being around someone you love who doesn't love you back is painful, making the wound even harder to heal. Let's say Fudou having multiple lovers throughout the years helped him work that out, truthfully.

But this was just Fudou's interpretation. He wasn't sure if Sakuma even wanted to come back to being friends with him, or whatever they were before.

Perhaps he would. And if he did, Fudou was surely not going to waste time to give him a taste of what real fun is.

* * *

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it and look forward to the next chapters~**

 **Cover image; zerochan/1297931**


	2. Chapter 2 - Welcome

**Author's Note: Hey! Here is the second chapter to this fic! I hope you enjoy reading it~**

* * *

 **Takanashi Shinobu added you to the chat.**

 **Takanashi Shinobu changed the subject to "New member! ^^".**

 **Takanashi Shinobu: sent 23:44**

 **Guys, please welcome Sakuma our new boi here to the gang!**

 **Tobitaka Seiya: sent 23:59**

 **A terrible decision really**

 **Tsunami: sent 00:03**

 **I bet he didn't even get to decide lol**

 **Fudou Akio sent: 00:05**

 **Let's see how long he survives**

* * *

Sluggishly, the blunet pushed himself up in a sitting position, his hair split in two large strands, messily cascading down his shoulders. Sunlight slithered in through the gaps of his curtains, creating thick and thin lines of light on his bedsheets. Slowly, he clumsily reached to touch his warm forehead as he began feeling a headache on its way.

For the first time in ages, Sakuma slept through his alarm.

Then again, he barely managed to close an eye last night, when somehow everything went out of hand. Lucky it's Saturday. Sakuma silently gazed around his apartment with tired eyes, seemingly in his thoughts as he stayed motionless for the following minute.

 _Ding!_

The teen almost jumped at the sudden familiar sound that came out his phone. He sighed before voluntarily falling back on his bed, his fingertips searching beside his pillow to grab said phone. Last night, Sakuma spent almost his whole night eyes glued on that damaging bright screen, and they felt sore just from a glimpse of his lockscreen. It's a text from Genda.

 **Genda Koujirou: sent 11:48**

 **Hey I'm 10 mins away**

"Wait… What?!" Sakuma's eyes widen in confusion at his friend's short message. He swiftly sat back up, his mind racing endlessly for any possible reason for Genda to come over—At this time especially. It simply wasn't Genda's style to show up unexpectedly either. Scrolling upwards to the older messages with the brunet, that's when he remembered. They planned to hang out at Sakuma's apartment today five days ago, and somehow he completely forgot about it. A sudden rush of adrenaline ran through the blunet's body as he realised how… He isn't presentable in the least. Sakuma almost jumped off from his bed to the spare clothes on his desk chair he luckily prepared last night. Usually the younger teen wouldn't mind Genda seeing him in his pyjamas or without his eyepatch, as close as they were, but right now his baggy white shirt is the only fabric covering him. While struggling putting his jeans on, Sakuma cursed himself for being such a bad friend. He isn't the type of person to forget things like this, especially if it involves his close friends like Genda. Yet he did, and he feels terribly bad about it.

After dressing into his clean shirt, the blunet ran to his bathroom to quickly check on his face. He gasped at the reflection before his eyes; his hair is a fluffy mess and the bags under his eyes are way bigger than usual. If Genda saw him right now, he'd think his friend might have done not so legal things. Sakuma always had some sort of anxiety in the corner of his mind to always look "decent" whenever seeing someone, or going anywhere, probably because of the way he was brought up. So he generally spends a lot of time getting ready, which resulted in some of his friends teasing him. But Sakuma couldn't care less.

The blunet desperately grabbed his beige towel hanging on the radiator, and turned on the tap to wash his face. There is absolutely no time to take a shower, so this is the least he could do. After wetting the towel with lukewarm water, he swiftly brought it to his face in a hurry, water droplets falling on his shirt and down his arms. Sakuma helplessly rubbed the towel on his face back and forth, hoping to wipe away this zombie face of his. Currently blind from the veil of water in his eyes, Sakuma accidentally missed the sink and dropped the wet cloth right onto his foot. The blunet groaned in frustration, desperately reaching for another towel blindly. When he finally managed to get his hands on a new dry towel, which was really a t-shirt, Sakuma widen his eyes in shock once again as he stared at his reflection.

His face was all red and slightly puffy, surely from rubbing his face too hard. Sakuma covered his agape mouth with his hand as he laughed, feeling his nerves giving up. His friend is about to knock on his door at any moment and he looks like a blue haired rat who lacks sleep and cried his eyes out. In a last attempt, Sakuma ran his fingers through the pale blue strands of his hair to get rid of the noughts as well as patting it down multiple times with his palms to reduce the puffiness. The exhaustion from earlier came back like an overpowering wave as the blunet's determination was gone in a sigh. Sakuma glared at his other him a couple seconds more, before exiting his bathroom in defeat. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before crashing down unto his sofa. It's just Genda after all. At least he changed into clean clothes—Now almost completely drenched in water—but clean nonetheless.

The blunet closed his sleepy eyes as he waited for his friend to knock. Sakuma had so much to tell to Genda, and although he looked like shit, he was almost excited to talk about the things that happened last night. He finally turned the page to his old routine. Coincidentally, as soon as a blurred image of a tall familiar brunet formed in his mind, a low knocking sound on wood echoed through the small hallway. Sakuma slowly stood back up, flinching as his head began slightly pounding again. Even if he was a little embarrassed to show himself like this, the blunet was curious to see Genda's reaction. His bare feet tapped against the wooden floor as he stepped closer to his front door, unlocking it with a clinging of keys.

"Hi."

* * *

Silence filled the room completely between the two teens—however it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it was calm, peaceful almost. The blunet remembered how his faithful friend's presence is comforting, without even the need of him to speak to feel at ease. Only after he finally finished laughing at him, though.

"Jirou did you have a rough night?" Genda asked, the blunet unable to read if he was serious or not after his little laughing fit, to which he did join at some point. It doesn't happen often for Sakuma to look so 'casual' as Genda described it, however it seemed more like 'I just rolled out of bed' look to Sakuma. The brunet took a seat in front of him on the black chair opposite him, sipping on some green tea Sakuma served him earlier. Occasionally, Genda would bring treats like _mochi_ or _dorayaki_ when he came over, and today it was a pretty plate of mochi sitting in the middle of the table. Pastries were both their worst weakness.

"We can assume so," Sakuma replied as he grabbed another melon flavoured mochi to his lips. "It seems I got a little popular." The blunet smiled while Genda raised an eyebrow at his friend. He knew Sakuma was pretty known in Teikoku since he's a great soccer player who represented Teikoku multiple times, as well as being good looking. However as much as girls would show their interest for him, Sakuma was always more attracted to men in the end. Then a sudden inquiry popped into Genda's mind, yet he had a second of hesitation before asking.

"Did you… Find a partner or...?" His blue eyes stared at Sakuma doubtfully, unsure but glad if his friend did find someone else he could love after Kidou. Genda really wishes him someone kind and sweet; he really deserved someone worthy of his caring personality. "Wait-what? No, not at all." Sakuma furrowed his eyebrows in surprise at Genda's sudden question, but somehow expected it after some thinking. As the blunet finished chewing his mochi, he took his phone and unlocked it to the group chat he was recently added on. "I've joined the bad boy gang yesterday." He said jokingly as he showed Genda some of the messages from the chat. The brunet's eyes widen as he read the texts and who they were from. His eyes focused on Sakuma, then to his phone screen again, clearly confused. Tobitaka? Tsunami? _Fudou?!_

"Jirou, explain this now." Genda pinched the bridge of his nose with his index and forefinger, eyes closed. He knows the true nature of this group, and he's baffled as to why Sakuma would hang out with them again. Especially Fudou. The stuck up forward was always a threat to Genda, who's clearly a little too overprotective of Sakuma. Yet the blunet desiring to spend his time with an asshole like Fudou was like losing to the brunet in some way to the goalkeeper. It also meant they had a pretty big interest in Sakuma to let him in so easily, which didn't make the case any better.

Yet they have been close friends since childhood, wasn't he enough?

"You and your mother instinct." the blunet grinned as he turned his phone screen to face him again. He knew Genda was going to be against this from the beginning, but he had no intention to argue over this with him. "You know how they behave Jirou, and they'll get you involved in some stupid crap." Sakuma placed his phone on the table, avoiding eye contact as he was well aware Genda was somewhat right. Shinobu's gang is definitely not the best friendship group to join—if it's even a 'friendship' group. But that won't affect or change Sakuma's decision. He's not a little a kid anymore, he can decide things on his own, and he will face the consequences if he has to.

"I feel like I need a new starting point, you know? I think—I think it'll help me get over some stuff too, hanging out with other people." The blunet fiddled with his fingers as he glared back at his friend, who's expression abruptly turned so much softer as soon as he finished his sentence. "Get over some stuff", _stuff_ as in Kidou. The first one to know about Sakuma's painful heartache ever since the midfielder rejected him is Genda, and the blunet was miserable for weeks. Although Kidou was clear and polite, it must have been excruciating for Sakuma as he's surely unconsciously continuing to harbor these feelings for the hazel haired teen. It honestly made Genda tear up when the blunet came to his apartment in tears that night. And Genda is a beast—emotionally speaking—it's hard to make him cry at all.

"Listen Jirou, do what you want alright? Just… Don't hurt yourself, or else you won't hear the end of it!" He proceeded to cross his arms as if to emphasise the warning he was giving to his friend—which could be taken as a threat if you didn't know him well. However Sakuma saw right through the bigger teen's words, and there was nothing but kindness and worry. He smiled at the blue eyed goalkeeper, placing some of his blue locks behind his ear, revealing his dark coloured eye. There was simple, quiet moments between them just like this one which spoke so much louder than words. Genda is just a big softie who wants the best for his friends, and Sakuma knows that the most.

"You know if you're that worried for me you can always join th-"

"Do not finish that sentence Jirou."

There was a short silence before they began laughing again. It'd be funny to see Genda hanging out with Fudou again, or even Shinobu—The blunet was sure the brunet would get along with Shinobu best out of all four. Sakuma took a sip out of his green tea, resting his palms around his warm cup while Genda went for another mochi. "You know what, I think you're exaggerating here, I bet they're not that bad." the blunet admitted, remembering people he met before who were way worse than them. Sakuma was never really intimidated by them anyway, just more annoyed at their behaviour most of the time more than anything. "Tell me more about it after spending a day with them." The brunet replied with a smirk, leaning back into his chair comfortably. Without warning, a strong gust of wind rushed into the apartment from the opened window, the curtains flying upwards all the way to the ceiling. It somehow lightened the atmosphere in the room, with the sunlight beaming through the clouds. The two teens continued exchanging their habitual witty comebacks, accompanied with chuckles every now and then.

Suddenly, the blunet's phone screen lit up as he received two new messages. While taking another bite into the sweet pastry in between his fingers, Sakuma looked down at the new notifications which appeared on his lockscreen.

 **Takanashi Shinobu: sent 12:57**

 **can we go bowliiiing**

 **Tobitaka Seiya: sent 12:57**

 **Shino we literally went two days ago**

The blunet grinned at his screen as he read the new texts below his eyes. "What is it?" Genda asked curiously as he noticed his friend looking down with a smile. "Oh, it's just them, texting and all." Sakuma gestured to his phone with a smile, looking back at his screen again as more messages popped in. Genda glared at the blunet skeptically—his lids halfway closed, as if he could read the blunet's mind by making that face. He could tell he wanted to reply to those texts, but felt it would be too rude in front of the bigger teen.

By reading those messages, it was like they haven't changed since middle school to Sakuma. Shinobu is just a little more girly, Tobitaka more mature, Tsunami more romantic, somehow… And Fudou seems a little more… Nicer? When the blunet was added, he was able to read the older messages which made him conclude these guesses as well as learn a bit more about them. And It was easy to work out Shinobu is the reason for this group even coming together. She is pretty much the leader, instead of Fudou which Sakuma thought to be.

Now that he thinks about it… Are these two going out…?

 **Takanashi Shinobu: sent 12:59**

 **Let's go again to celebrate Sakuma joining us!**

 **Tsunami kousuke: sent 13:00**

 **I'm in! Saku' I feel like I didn't talk to you in years**

 **Fudou Akio: sent 13:01**

 **I will destroy you all with my strikes**

Sakuma blinked multiple times, as if confused. Is this how their daily conversations went all the time? Everything goes so fast. He should have expected it, but truthfully he was a little nervous to spend the day with them—It was probably going to go awkward, especially with Fudou. But bowling didn't sound too bad.

"You can reply y'know, I don't mind." The brunet interrupted his friend in mid-thought, resting his chin on his palm. Even if he'd like to know what they're talking about, Genda kept his curiosity to himself. "Thanks." Sakuma smiled, unlocking his phone to reply although he felt a little bad to leave Genda out of it.

 **sent 13:02**

 **Sure, when should we go?**

 **Tobitaka Seiya: sent 13:02**

 **Ugh bowling again**

 **Takanashi Shinobu: sent 13:03**

 **Seiya stop being ur grumpy ass will you? Also we're going tonight cos I kinda of reserved for five already so seiya you're coming along**

 **Fudou Akio: sent 13:03**

 **Tsun will pick you up Sakuma since hes dying to see you**

 **Tsunami Kousuke: 13:04**

 **Fine by me :D Where do you live Saku?**

Wait a minute… Tonight?! Sakuma gulped at the thought of going out at night with them of all times. And tonight as well. At least he could always count on Tsunami or Shinobu, in case anything would go wrong. But why would anything go wrong anyway?

Right?

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! 3**


	3. Chapter 3 - All-Nighter

**Author's Note: Hello there, here is chapter 3 at last! (Haha get it? no? ok sorry) I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven.**

* * *

"I'm sorry Sakuma."

I averted my eyes in shame as I feared to look into his crimson eyes, for once not hidden in those glasses of his. My chapped lips curved into a faint smile, internally mocking my pitiful self. All the words I wanted to let out, shout out, were suddenly all stuck in my parched throat. Everything seemed to go so much slower; the hardened green leaves moving in the rhythm of the wind, the noisy cars driving down the road, and the bitter silence freezing us into place. Everything was so much louder, harder. Yet the sharp pain in my chest was growing stronger so swiftly, that my eyes were already getting watery.

No. Not now. Please... Don't look at me…

* * *

In a sudden, swift movement, his eyes shot wide open as he gasped for air in a rush of fear. His chest moved up in down rapidly from the shock, his blurred out gaze focused upwards to the white ceiling. Impulsively, he gently moved his hand to his heart, as if to calm it down from its fast beating. Even after all this time, this same nightmare seemed to really continue haunting him. As he slowly calmed down and began analysing his surroundings, the blunet quickly realised how unfamiliar this room was; long lilac curtains barely covered the large glass windows on his right, causing the bright morning sunlight to burn his tired eye. There was a mess of different types of clothes and fast food on the floor, and a small fuschia vanity with multiple beauty products on it sat at the very right corner of the room.

"Where…?" His throat felt sore, a pain which felt as if he had shouted for too long-the dry sensation and bitter taste in his mouth begged for a glass of water. A sharp pounding in his head quickly followed as his body hurt and felt abnormally heavy. His sudden, frightful awakening didn't make anything better either. The jumble of sheets above him felt uncomfortable as well as the sea of cute stuffed animal mascots at his feet. His heart began racing once more as it was more than obvious this wasn't his room one bit. Last night… He went bowling with Shinobu and her friends. Didn't he go home after that? Apparently not, but everything seemed unclear after a certain point, although he did remember bits and pieces.

Without warning, the blunet sensed the sheet suddenly tugging away from him, all the way until he had nothing covering him anymore. As he looked down, he noticed he only wore his black shirt and boxers. His breathing quickened as fear kicked in, his blood running ice cold through his veins.

Someone else was here with him-In the same bed.

His head turned painfully slow as his hand trembled at his side while the other had a strong grip at his shirt. There was no way he had… He had slept with someone? Although his mind was racing with questions, it suddenly turned completely blank as he got so close at discovering who was next to him-possibly during the entire night. However the blanket completely hid the identity of the person, but when the blunet noticed a familiar brown tuft of hair sticking out the covers, that's when he lost it.

His first instinct was to get the furthest away from _him_ , which resulted in a loud fall as he struggled escaping. His butt fell first on the wooden floor, his right leg still on the mattress. The blunet winced as his forearms hurt from the drop, since he fell right on them to support his torso above the dirty floor. When he was on it, the bed didn't seem that high, but the pain said otherwise. He prayed the noise hadn't woken him up. However, the blunet quickly found out there was more than just two people here as a lying figure not far from him suddenly grabbed his attention-The pile of blankets decorated brightly with various disney princesses surrounding him was the second thing he noticed.

"Tobitaka…?" Sakuma whispered in confusion, although his sloppy purple hair simply gave it away. There was no reply from the other teen as his eyes were closed shut- and from what the blunet supposed was his eyeliner-completely smudged all around and below his eyes, as if he had cried and all of it just smeared along his face. Sakuma widen his eyes in disbelief, since he has never seen this 'side' of Tobitaka. It wasn't like he knew him on a personal level, but this didn't suit his personality at all. The blunet suddenly had an urge to laugh, the sight and the situation was just hilarious to him now. Although he feared what had happened last night, it was more than obvious that they all crashed at someone's place after going bowling. And from the room's decoration and furniture, it resembled Shinobu's style out of everyone. Sakuma praised mentally his past self for not inviting them all at his apartment, since what they've done to reduce this room into utter chaos was a mystery and scary to the blunet to even think about.

Sakuma finally pushed himself up and stood groggily, making a disgusted face as he accidentally stepped in a mushy fry. He quietly tiptoed his way across the room, dodging all the shit on the floor, and at some point having to step over Tobitaka who was sleeping in the middle of the room. However before he opened the door, the blunet took one last look at the bed he was on minutes earlier, just to confirm who exactly slept with him.

 _Annnnd fuck._

The little hairs on his neck stood upright as a violent shiver ran down his back all the way to his thighs, while haunting scenarios took control of his mind. The blunet prayed to the holy virgin Genda that nothing… _happened_ between them. The simple possibility triggered another shiver in Sakuma's back. Although waking up with clothes on reassured him, (as well as Tobitaka being there) Fudou was still Fudou and the craziest of things could occur with him anytime, anywhere. Was he even into guys?

Somehow, a fragment of memory suddenly struck Sakuma as he remembered the brunet's confession about his bisexuality. They were… In a park? A children's park? It was really dark outside, and he only remembers Fudou's figure sitting on a swing, a cigarette in between his fingers. That's right, Fudou smokes… He had learnt quite a lot about the brunet and the gang, but he almost forgot all about it now. Perhaps this horrible headache was forbidding him from remembering.

Sakuma glared at Fudou who was comfortably sleeping on the bed, the sheets resembling a cocoon as they enveloped him all the way up to his chin. His lips were slightly agape, and his hair was so out of place it was almost funny.

 _He looks so innocent!_

The blunet's cheeks suddenly warmed up as he realised he had stared at the teen's sleeping face for a _little_ too long. Sakuma stubbornly shook his head side to side, as if to get rid of the images of a sleepy, messy brunet from his thoughts. He had other things to do, and one of them was to hopefully find Shinobu, or even Tsunami for an explanation. Fudou was just another problem to take care of, but later.

The blunet grabbed the round, pink doorknob-Shinobu clearly had a small obsession for that colour it seems-and twisted it and pushed, trying to be as silent as he possibly could. Waking the other two would be worse case scenario; he wouldn't know what to do. Run, probably. He stepped out, and grimaced when the wooden floor creaked loudly in the narrow hallway. When Sakuma finally closed the door, he jumped at his reflection who was now staring back at him.

"What the?!"

The blunet automatically slapped his mouth shut with his palm, glaring back at himself in the square-shaped mirror hanging on the door. He was unsure if he wanted to burst out laughing or scream at his disfigured face. Well, it's not as if he could any of them with his sore throat. In any case, it seemed someone had a lot of fun painting all over him.

His eyepatch is just a plain black colour, yet now it had a large pink heart drawn on it, with many hello kitty stickers inside of it. Hello. Kitty. At least he had kept his eyepatch on, now that he thinks about it. The blunet wears it so often he sometimes doesn't even notice that he's even wearing it. But the worst had to be the makeup. He laughed at Tobitaka earlier with his messed up eyeliner, but he was so much worse. His lips were filled in dark red and he had mascara on his eyelashes which tainted his eyelids. Let's not forget the glitter scattered all around his cheeks, too. Sakuma knows why his face felt itchy now, although he didn't pay much attention to it. The blunet began rubbing his lips with his index and thumb as an attempt to get rid of the dried lipstick, but failed. He dropped his arm down to his side, sighing in defeat. He took a step back from the door, thinking at what he should do now. At this point, he was ready to commit murder.

With how skillfully it was applied-although it was all smudged now-only one person could have done this to him.

Takanashi _fucking_ Shinobu.

Finding her was now an ultimate emergency more than anything else after all those red flags thrown at the blunet's face. Sakuma turned to walk down the narrow hallway, not giving a single fuck about being quiet anymore-Everyone has probably seen him like this already. Questions and more questions just continued to fill the blunet's mind as he finally arrived at the end of the hall, now what he assumed to be the living room or some sort.

In front of him was some big ass cake decorated with blue icing and sugar roses, placed on the small wooden table. It was rainbow layered in the inside as the dessert was practically destroyed and not cut properly. But what surprised Sakuma the most was the size of that thing. He sadly remembers eating a lot of that, but not why or when they even bought it. Walking into the middle of the small room which was also in as much chaos as the bedroom, Sakuma caught sight of pink strands of hair on the arm of the brown sofa.

"Shinobu!"

Sakuma instantly rushed towards the sleeping girl, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. As he got closer to Shinobu, he noticed how her hair was all over the place, since it wasn't in her usual strange hairstyle. Only a small fluffy blanket half her size was keeping her warm, and her top was pink with grey stripes and cropped with thin spaghetti straps. The blunet gently shook her bare shoulder to wake her up, repeating her name a little louder each time. Somehow, she reminded the blunet of a sleeping princess; Shinobu was indeed a very pretty girl. The pinkette hummed, and stretched her arm upwards as her lids finally fluttered open, like fragile flower buds opening.

"Ooh, hello Saku…~" Shinobu grinned as a funny looking blunet stared back at her.

"Don't 'Saku~' me! Shinobu what in the hell happened last night? Look at my face!" Sakuma furrowed his eyebrows angrily while pointing at his face. He was eager for answers, but the pinkette seemed to not give a single shit right now. "Shh, you're so loud…" She whispered quietly as she rubbed her forehead; so he wasn't the only one with a headache. Almost instantly, the blunet understood that getting angry and shouting to get answers just wouldn't work out. A small wave of guilt washed over him as he saw the girl below him wincing in pain. Getting shouted at first thing in the morning… Was it even morning?

Shinobu slowly pushed herself up, her curls looking like fluffy pink wool. "Is Tobitaka one of your artworks too?" Sakuma said jokingly, attempting to ease the mood. Immediately, the pinkette understood and laughed in a high pitch tone, her voice was slightly hoarse. Now that a spot on the sofa was free, the blunet proceeded to sit beside her-However, his eye accidentally glimpsed down to Shinobu's thighs, where the blanket was misplaced. She was barely wearing anything-he couldn't talk, but black lace lingerie? Honestly?

"Last night was lit though," Shinobu giggled again, and the blunet decided it was best to stay quiet about what he just saw. Her slender back rested on Sakuma's shoulder, who simply sighed at her words. Lit…?

There was a calm silence; perhaps their fatigue caused them to be so out of character, especially Shinobu. They both gazed around the room, and Sakuma wondered how Shinobu was not mad at the mess in her apartment. Her parents are quite wealthy from what he remembers, but barely engage or talk to their daughter. So she lives alone in a fairly big apartment like him, which her parents also pays for. Maybe she has a maid or something. If so, poor her.

Now that he thinks about it, almost everyone in the gang are only children. Except...

"Hey, where's Tsunami?" The pinkette jolted a little at Sakuma's sudden question, as she began to fall back asleep. The blunet had seen the three of them now, but Tsunami was mysteriously missing. "Hmm… He probably left already. Tsun' is always the first one gone after our parties." She smiled and glared at her sparkly nails. So Tsunami is the one who 'disappears' huh. After another short silence, the blunet's face began itching once again. He decided to ask Shinobu where he could wash his face at last, and she pointed at a white door not far from them, and informed him it was the bathroom. As Sakuma stood up, the pinkette instantly fell back on the sofa since her only source of support was now gone. Luckily, he had spotted his lost jeans on the way, which confused him a little, but made Shinobu giggle uncontrollably at his "funny face". The best thing was that his phone was also in the back pocket. What a winner.

His eye widen as he realised it was one in the afternoon as he checked for the time. He had slept for so long he almost couldn't believe it. However it wasn't an enormous surprise either-his recent all nighters had to affect him at some point.

In the end he took a shower-and it might have been the best feeling in his life. The warm water and mist surrounding him probably had healing energies, as it made him feel so much better. His headache had dissipated a little, and he felt so much more awake. In all honesty, Sakuma was ready and wanted to go back home. However, he still desired those explanations from Shinobu. Especially now that he felt refreshed, he could face any consequences with a calm mind. Sakuma dressed swiftly into his already worn clothes, and he was glad there was no stains. He grabbed a nearby brush and only did a couple strokes, since it wasn't his after all. What took the longest surprisingly where those stickers on his eyepatch which took way too much time to remove. And finally he stepped out, feeling _almost_ great.

"I see you." Sakuma smiled as he witnessed Shinobu taking a large mouthful of what was left of the cake. She tried to stop her urge to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. "You can talk, you ate loads yesterday!" The pinkette managed to let out in between laughs after gulping down the cake. "By the way… What exactly happened yesterday?" Shinobu glared with widened eyes at the blunet, her hand suddenly stopped fiddling with her hair. Sakuma suddenly felt slightly embarrassed at being stared at in such scrutiny-was his question stupid or what?

"What…? You don't remember?" Sakuma shook his head side to side, an awkward smile forming on his lips. Well, it wasn't like he didn't know anything, but a big part seemed to just be missing. "So the karaoke, and your date with Aki? Completely gone?" The blunet was about to shout something out in terror, but it turned into a coughing fit instead. Aki is Shinobu's nickname for Fudou, that he knew very well. But… A _date_?! With Fudou of all people?! "Tell me you're kidding and just messing with me!" Sakuma exclaimed, sitting back next to her.

His body filled with dread as she turned her head side to side, a smile secretly hidden behind her palm.

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 **Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading~ Tell me what you think! ;)**

 **(I'm sorry for taking so long, but I try my best to create those chapters which I rather have fun writing than rush!)**


	4. Chapter 4 - A Question of Luck

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Wow, it has been some time since I've posted, huh? Once again I'd like to apologise for this very late update, but I've been busy as usual. Also, I would like to thank Catmeow123 and Nemo for your kind comments! It's always nice to see a review/comment. Hopefully you like this chapter! (I made it a lil' bit longer ^^)**

 **Happy reading~**

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"Nooo! I lost againuuuh!" The pink haired teen groaned in irritation, pursing his lips as he loudly closed his 3DS. Filled with anger, he carelessly threw it at his side, contenting himself at staring at the familiar beige ceiling above him. Shinobu, on the other hand, was cheerfully dancing beside him along the Mario Kart music coming out her own DS, feeling victorious. Her screen indicated Princess Peach had won the race against Bowser, which was quite a phenomenon.

It quickly became a fact among the gang that Tsunami was a total sucker at video games—Being the huge extrovert he is resulted at always having something to do, which never really allowed him to grow an interest for them. However, the surfer would always gladly accept playing with anyone who desired to—especially with Shinobu who quickly became his gaming buddy. She owned playstations, a wii and simply an awful amount of games. So, even if he would lose pretty much every game, it was never boring to play with the pinkette.

"And another glorious victory for Shino'!" Shinobu exclaimed happily, obviously aiming to tease the bigger teen next to her. While the two began discussing—or arguing—a quiet brunet was comfortably slouched into his bed, biting his nails in annoyance. It was only two in the afternoon, and Fudou just knew this day as a whole was going to be one hell of a nightmare. It had to start with _these_ two inviting themselves in his apartment at an ungodly hour—At eleven o'clock to be precise—and they have been uncontrollable for the past three hours. At the time he barely had the willpower to close the door on them, but now he regrets he didn't. Well, Shinobu is alright, the brunet is used to her coming around his place whenever, but the fact Tsunami tagged along was the main problem. It seems these two are not the best of friends—never have, surely never will—since the surfer was one of those people who only piqued Shinobu's interest. Often, Fudou wondered if the gang wasn't just some secret harem for the pinkette, since everyone was pretty much 'recruited' by her. Hm. Strange.

Yet in the end, Fudou did successfully manage to accept Tsunami as part of the gang. Since most of the time they were cool with each other, although they were extreme opposites. He definitely isn't a total no-no—like _google man_ for example—but the guy just gets on the brunet's nerves. Especially today, since Fudou thought he would be able to laze around all day, but abrupt change of plans. It's going to be their first night out with Sakuma tonight, to which the brunet is still quite surprised the blunet is still coming along. Ever since Shinobu mentioned Sakuma joining them, some sort of explosion of memories from his early teenage years came back all at once—Most of them involving Sakuma—And he'd cringe too often at his edgy past self, wondering why the blunet—or anyone really—stayed beside him for so long. Life was indeed tough back then, but that didn't forgive some things he had done in the past which, yes, _the great_ Fudou Akio does regret.

"Wow, Fudou you really need to do something about your ceiling," Tsunami broke the silence after a couple minutes lying sprawled on the thin carpet, observing a spot he usually wouldn't look at in the forward's apartment—And he had never expected the ceiling to be the worst of it.

"Shut the fuck UP!" Angrily, the quiet brunet finally lashed out and threw one of his thick pillows at Tsunami with clear frustration. The pink-haired teen screamed in terror as a heavy pillow hit his face; his reflexes clearly not as good as the short-tempered forward. The funny sight swelled a laughter from Shinobu, her hand moving to cover her sparkly lips. It somehow reassured her that Fudou finally spoke after such a long time—even if it was quite violent, but hey, that was to be expected. It was certain the brunet was still pissed off at their sudden intrusion into his flat. However, there was a chance, a very small one, that Fudou also had a certain blunet occupying his mind. Throughout the years of being Fudou's closest friend, Shinobu became amazing at reading him. The whole ordeal with Sakuma coming back to them, just like the times four years ago, probably had a bigger impact on him than he would have thought. Well, from what she recalls, their friendship did seem rather _questionable_ at times. Which obviously made the pinkette's mind race with brilliant ideas when she got in contact with Sakuma again. She had constructed a plan of gold, who even Fudou, _Aki_ , wasn't aware of.

"Shino' I got an idea!" The surfer suddenly sat up, pointing his index finger upwards with wide eyes. Shinobu jumped at the bigger teen's unexpected excitement, the brunet not far behind raising an eyebrow. "Whoever wins this race… wins everything!" _Everything?_ It was now the pinkette's turn to raise an eyebrow at her goofy friend. She looked back at Fudou for some kind of help, but he was already mid-way switching positions, which had his back turned on to her. Shinobu sighed quietly, glancing back at Tsunami who picked up his DS and was shaking it side to side with a grin growing wider. "No, better; the loser has to get the other coffee!" He exclaimed even louder than before, visibly excited about his upcoming idea. Sapphire eyes rapidly glanced at the window; the sky was dull and filled with thick, grey clouds, and the freezing sensation of the cold breeze already made her shiver. There was no way she was going outside. Shinobu fiddled with one of her curls, glaring at Tsunami with playful eyes and an evil little smirk. Her admiration for Tsunami's willingness at accepting failure probably grew twice in size.

"Alright then, I accept your challenge. It'll be pumpkin spice latte for me!" She hastily opened her DS with a cheeky grin, Tsunami chuckling at her words. However the surfer was determined, and he was definitely not letting Shinobu's words get to him. "Game on!"

Thus an intense battle had begun.

* * *

"So what did you want again?" Tsunami exhaled heavily, pushing his hands into his coat pockets. "A pumpkin spice latte please! Thanks sweetie~" The surfer smiled sarcastically at the pinkette's last words, sighing once more as he remembered his defeat. And Fudou mocking him didn't make it better, and it was moderate too. Maybe it's just fate that he has to lose at every Mario Kart races. However, in truth, Tsunami's real goal _was_ to leave anyway. It was more than obvious that Fudou wasn't in the best of moods at the moment, and his own presence alone probably pissed the brunet even more. He secretly hoped Shinobu somehow understood his message and would attempt talking it out with him. He didn't want a grumpy Fudou at their little outing tonight. Tsunami then waved goodbye at the pinkette as well as the brunet, opening the door to meet the sharp and cold breeze. "Get me a banana parfait while you're at it!" Fudou shouted right before Tsunami stepped out, gaining an 'of course' with strong sympathy present in his voice, which annoyed the brunet more than anything. _Why was he so happy about losing?_

Shinobu grinned at Fudou's sudden command for a banana parfait—it was his favourite after all. Seconds quickly passed by in silence, until the pinkette finally proceeded to stand up, and rapidly re-adjusted her black skirt. Since Fudou was too occupied staring at his ceiling aimlessly, she would make the first move. Then, out of nowhere, the brunet caught a glimpse of Shinobu above him as she jumped into his bed. However, she certainly landed on him more than his actual bed. Fudou responded with a low groan, yet a chuckle quickly escaped his lips as the pinkette began laughing hysterically. "What was that for?" The brunet asked in between chuckles, gaining no reply from his friend. Instead she went ahead and wrapped her arms on each side of his waist, her laughter finally coming to a stop. The brunet did a similar thing, as he circled her slender figure with his arm. Shinobu's head was comfortably positioned on his chest, his heart thumping hard against her ear. She smiled.

"Your heart is pounding… Am-I this provocative?" The pinkette pulled her chin back up to look at her silent brunet, a wry smile painted on her pink lips. "As if," The brunet replied with a playful grin which sadly quickly disappeared. Although Shinobu is indeed really hot, Fudou went past the phase of succumbing to her charms a long time ago. He stopped viewing her as a potential partner years back—she's always been a precious person to him, and he believes having her as a best friend is much better than having her as a lover. His grip unconsciously grew stronger around her waist as his thoughts were a pretty mess of memories. The pinkette drew invisible circles on his exposed collarbone with her fingertip, a calming silence between them. The brunet ran a hand in his hair, his ceiling seemingly way more interesting than Shinobu. Seaweed-head was right; his ceiling did look like shit.

"You seem so distant today… Something on your mind?" The pinkette broke the silence first once again, hesitating on adding if it could be _someone_ on his mind instead, but she stopped herself. Fudou scoffed lightly. "Not really. I'm just tired." Ah, the famous excuse of 'just being tired' coming to use again. That pitiful excuse pissed Shinobu more than anything, since most of the time it was obvious it wasn't simply fatigue. The brunet closed his heavy eyelids, expecting the pinkette to question him more at his distant attitude. He didn't really know himself why he was so out of it but he did know one thing—he hates questions. Shinobu glared at him unimpressed, annoyed at her friend's irritating silence. Her delicate fingers reached to gently caress Fudou's cheek—which were surprisingly soft. Fudou stayed quiet under her gentle touch, until she went ahead and pinched him with her thumb and forefinger, pulling his cheek.

"Liar." She ignored his moan of pain, twinkling blue eyes meeting darker ones once again. "Im shaying the truff!" The brunet's speech sounded as if he had a hot potato in his mouth, and he grimaced at the strong grip Shinobu had on his cheek. The pinkette was seriously the _only_ person he allows to do things like this. Yet a part of him would say he deserves it. After a couple seconds of struggle, Shinobu finally let go of his cheek which was now almost scarlet red. "I know something is wrong, and it isn't just Tsun' either. Could it be S—" Before Shinobu could finish her sentence, a surprisingly loud creak cut her off. It sounded like wood, and seemed to be coming from Fudou's bed, or more like underneath it. They both stared at each other in confusion as they both felt a strange sinking sensation, until the wood loudly snapped again and both teens screamed as they dropped to the floor.

* * *

"What the?!" Tsunami stared in shock with an opened mouth at the mess the brunet's bed became during his absence. He had never seen a bed in this state ever, and the forward's bed wasn't that bad of a quality either. It was always when he was gone that interesting things happens—If only he was there to see when it broke. "I think your bed is trying to tell you something," Tobitaka said jokingly as scrolled through the notifications on his phone, unknown to the deadly stare Fudou was giving him. "Why did you bring _him_ over? And you stop laughing!" The brunet exclaimed as he now glared at Shinobu, who was still giggly after their fall. She tried multiple times to sip on her hot coffee but her continuous laughter stopped her. It's been awhile since bad events just kept coming at him like a domino effect. Maybe his pessimistic thoughts from earlier were right—Today was meant to be cruel to him.

"But what the heck have you done on it to break it like that though?" A look of confusion was plastered on the surfer's face as he turned to face Fudou. However only silence greeted him as the brunet's mouth was closed shut, making obvious eye contact with Shinobu who suddenly stopped laughing. Two seconds was enough for both to begin laughing at their 'silly' idea. The pinkette started laughing hysterically again while Fudou only chuckled lightly, digging his spoon into his promised banana parfait. "What? Why are you laughing?" Tsunami glared at them cluelessly, honestly having no idea at what his friends were so enthusiastic about. In his little corner, Tobitaka had listened closely to the conversation and only smiled, more amused at Tsunami's innocence than the other two. It was surprisingly the oldest of them that was the most clueless about that kind of topic; who would guess he actually has a girlfriend? Fudou lightly shook his head side to side with a smile stuck on his lips, taking a large spoonful of his favourite cake. "Whatever, I need a new bed now." He whispered, looking back at his sad looking mattress lying beside broken pieces of wood.

"I'll get you a new one," Shinobu finally calmed down, her serious self coming back to her. But the brunet frowned at her, his mouth too full to utter a clear sentence. Although Shinobu is quite wealthy, he didn't want her of all people to be the one to get him a new bed. However, the pinkette took advantage the brunet couldn't talk and continued on. "I'll even get you a double bed, for you and your future babe!" She winked and stuck her tongue out playfully before taking another sip of her coffee, the brunet rolling his eyes as soon as she finished her sentence. _But a double bed did sound nice..._ "Yeah! We need to get you a wifey! Or a hubby!" Tsunami smiled widely, dark eyes twinkling brightly. Shinobu seemed to be on his side as she nodded violently—Fudou only messes around like everyone else in the gang—except Tsunami—but she truly wishes to find him that one person who would love him unconditionally. Perhaps that person was closer than they expected.

"Oh my God if I ever take advice from him to get myself a date please kill me." Fudou glared at Tobitaka, who broke into a small laughter before agreeing contentedly. "Heyyy, don't be a meanie!" The surfer whined sarcastically, all four of them smiling. Tsunami was glad to see the brunet light up and joke around again. Perhaps bringing Tobitaka wasn't such a bad idea after all—now the gang was almost completely reunited.

The teens continued to happily converse, spending a rather pleasant afternoon altogether. Hopefully the brunet wasn't going to be so unlucky tonight.

* * *

Grabbing his arms in a tight grip, the blunet exhaled a faint cloud of smoke as he shivered from the cold. The sky was already pitch black, only the bright hues of pink, orange and yellow really stood out from the quiet town of Inazuma. He was waiting patiently on the street beside his apartment, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest as nervousness as well as excitement gave him a hollow sensation in his abdomen. Checking the time on his phone every now and then, he noticed a message pop up on his lockscreen.

 **Shinobu Takanashi: sent 18:04**

 **I can't wait to see you Saku' :D**

His lips stretched into a smile. It's like nothing had changed since they were fourteen. But Sakuma knew it had, and somehow he wanted to catch up all that time lost.

"Sakuma!" As he was about to type his reply, the blunet turned to the familiar voice calling out his name. Big, fluffy coral hair was the first thing he noticed. Tsunami. He quickly placed his phone back in his coat pocket as he stared at the teen running to him. "Careful it's slippery!" Ironically, as soon as the blunet uttered his warning, Tsunami slipped on a thin sheet of ice. The surfer threw his arms around Sakuma for support, who somehow managed to grab him back. When the blunet expected the bigger teen to let go, he only hugged him tighter for a couple more seconds, his cheek surprisingly warm compared to Sakuma's.

"Sorry about that! But wow, Sakuma! I'm so glad to see you." Tsunami finally let go of the smaller teen, looking at the blunet up and down with his recognisable grin. Sakuma chuckled lightly at Tsunami's sudden greeting, his face growing a little more flushed from his compliment and heartfelt hug. They were the sort which recomforted you no matter what—it was as if Genda hugged him just now. "Thanks, glad to see you too."

The two teens quickly began making their way together, happily chatting about everything and anything. Since the bowling place wasn't that far away, they both agreed to walk there. It seemed the cold didn't bother Sakuma so much anymore as he was now with Tsunami, listening to him talking passionately about his love for surfing and his friends. It felt so nice to be around him, and his unexpected compliments never missed at making the blunet blush slightly. Sakuma brushed it off as only nervousness, since receiving compliments in general made him embarrassed for some unknown reason, but he appreciates all of them nonetheless.

They took several turns, and the minutes they spent walking felt like seconds when Tsunami finally stopped and pointed at a rather small building with a warm orange light inside. "Bowling Time!" was written in big at the top of the building, with a bowling ball and pin beside it.

"We're here!"

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 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Sorry if this fic is slow, but that sweet Sakuma-Fudou interaction will come very soon! ;)**


	5. Chapter 5 - We Meet Again

**Author's Note: Hello fellow readers! Guess who's back with a late update? ;)**

 **Anyway, here is the fifth chapter where Fudou and Sakuma actually talk to each other, FINALLY :D (amirite) So, I did make this the shortest chapter, since I knew that if I continued writing this part in only one chapter it would have been uploaded in like January x) So I hope you don't mind that detail and enjoy it anyway. Thank you and happy reading!**

 **Reply to Nemo: Sorry for the late reply, but I am sooo glad you like my fic! Your review is so lovely, it made me really happy! Thank you so much. Indeed chapter 4 was pretty much chapter 2 but on Fudou's side! I also do think Sakuma needs more love, he's a sweet little cinnamon roll ~ hopefully Fudou will be able to take care of this heartbroken baby 3 I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! ;)**

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"Aaah, what is Tsun' doing…"

An impatient pinkette sat in the middle of her two best friends, repeatedly looking towards the building's entrance for her beloved new member's arrival. She took a bite of her oreo atop her milkshake, wishing her friends would come soon. It wasn't as if they were late, but the three arrived super early because of Shinobu's excitement and impatience. Although the background noise was pretty loud from people bowling and talking, the pinkette furrowed her eyebrows at the silence between them. To her right was Fudou, slightly slouched unto his seat, drinking his coke peacefully as his mind seemed elsewhere. On her left was Tobitaka, and as always his eyes were glued to his phone. Shinobu sighed as she switched her gaze from one to the other, puffing her cheek with air and crossing her arms over her chest. "At least say something you two! We better make this night the best one Sakuma ever had alright? I'm counting on you!" Tobitaka raised an eyebrow as his eyes flickered off his phone to the pinkette, while Fudou awoke from his daydreaming.

In all honesty, the purple-haired teen didn't really understand Shinobu's sudden obsession with the blunet. It was just so unexpected, although that shouldn't be a surprise to him anymore. He didn't dislike Sakuma one bit, however this seemed a lot like there was _something else_ — _something_ Shinobu was hiding from all of them.

"Best? The best might just be the worst for him," The brunet smirked, the opening of his glass bottle sitting by his lips. Tobitaka rolled his eyes behind Shinobu's back, although he knew very well some of the 'best' nights they had ended in catastrophes and nearly getting arrested—but that was a story from some time ago. "Hey, go easy on him on the first night!" The pinkette lifted her index finger and quickly poked the brunet on the cheek, still frowning. She didn't want Sakuma to be traumatised after all. However the purple head grinned as he knew Fudou would never _'go easy'_ on anyone, especially if it's a new member. It was a way to make them understand what to expect. But everyone receives the same treatment from Fudou anyway, except for the wonderful Shinobu who was clearly his weakness. Well, she is everyone's weakness, pretty much.

Tobitaka finally let go of his phone as he slipped it back into his jean pocket, looking at his surroundings. It was 18:10, the time Tsunami and Sakuma should be here. The small chandeliers projected warm orange light, making Tobitaka's eyelids heavy and suddenly crave a nap. He should probably stop going to bed so late… But having these two devils as friends is quite difficult to keep a respected sleeping schedule. His tired eyes continued wandering around the place, his friends' semi-argument filling his ears as well as all the loud cheers and the crash of each bowling ball hitting the pins. Yet soon enough, black orbs suddenly perceived familiar faces enter from the rather small door. _Wait, isn't that—_

"They're here." The purple haired blurted out, about to tap Shinobu's shoulder to warn her—however his single words got both her head and the brunet's to turn towards the entrance. As Shinobu finally caught glimpse of Tsunami with a pretty blunet by his side, her eyes quickly widened in joy and her lips grew into a large smile. "Sakuma~!" She hastily jumped out from her seat, running up to him excitedly. The two teenagers as well as some bystanders glared as she threw her arms around him, Sakuma gladly hugging her back, slightly uneasy at all the people now staring at them. Shinobu was just loud and cheerful like that. A light chuckle suddenly escaped the brunet's lips. "I guess we can't help it. Let's go." He proceeded to stand up, comfortably placing his right hand into his jacket's pocket. Tobitaka followed him, their eyes meeting on an equal level. Although he could see his facial expression up so close, he had no idea what Fudou could be feeling right now. All he knew is that he always deeply disliked that smirk of his, as if he had an evil plan in mind.

"And _I_ don't get anything?" The surfer asked sarcastically as the pinkette finally let go of the blunet. However, she smiled and hugged him as well, although it was a lot shorter than her embrace with Sakuma. Shinobu was wearing one of her favourite lolita-style dresses along with black tights and high heeled boots. Her hair was up in her usual hairstyle, face lightly covered with pastel makeup which contrasted with her choice of clothes. The blunet was honestly a little taken aback at her appearance, since he would usually only see her in their Teikoku uniform, and makeup was banned too. It almost completely changed her, but in a great way—She was beautiful.

"Yo, Sakuma."

The blunet turned his head to the taller teen before him, recognising very well Fudou's messy curls and sharp blue eyes—another pang of nostalgia. "Yo, Fudou. It's been a while." They smiled at each other, and some sort of unsaid words were told within their gaze. Tobitaka stood behind the brunet, and suddenly leaned his elbow on Fudou's shoulder. The brunet glared at him with à familiar frown on his face, shrugging his arm off as he began speaking. "You're sooo going to regret this, but hey! Long time no see." The purple head produced such a strange grin which clearly portrayed pity, that it was hard to respond to him in terms of facial expressions. Although his words were only a joke, a certain pinkette wasn't all that happy about Tobitaka's honesty. "Oh shuddup you! We're all going to have a good time. C'mon let's play!" The purple head pursed his lips in annoyance, as if he was a little kid being told off by his mom. It was certainly a funny sight to the blunet.

Thus, they all distanced themselves from the entrance and grew closer to their lane who was luckily now free from the past players. Sakuma stayed behind with Tsunami however, to collect the special bowling shoes they had to wear. The both of them sat down on a nearby bench to tie their laces, when Tsunami made a sudden discovery.

"Wow, you have such small feet Saku'!'"

"Eh, really?"

The blunet raised an eyebrow, glaring both of at his feet beside Tsunami's. He wasn't wrong, but the surfer was taller and bigger than him, so it shouldn't be that surprising, _right_?

"Oi, Tsun'! Stop flirting with Sakuma and come over here already!" It could only had been Fudou to yell that unnecessary comment, and a stupid one to blush at—yet those judging looks people gave the blunet was enough to make him red out of shame. That… idiot! Tsunami only exhaled a sigh and rolled his eyes in front of the blunet, as if saying 'Don't mind him'. Sakuma realised he had to step up his game quicker than he thought if he wanted to survive. Being submissive in this kind of group will be a nightmare, and this wasn't the blunet's goal at all. It was inevitably true he became a docile person after all the shit he had gone through these past months—But Sakuma desired change; wanted that confident attitude of his to flourish once more. Tonight was his chance to show he's capable to be among them.

Both teens rapidly stood on their feet and began walking to their friends who were surprisingly calmly talking within each other. However Sakuma seemed to head particularly into the brunet's direction, then suddenly stopped right before him.

"What, are _you_ jealous now?"

This sharp gaze, that confident posture… Fudou didn't miss that side of his fellow ex-teammate one bit. His words were pronounced clearly, smugly looking at the brunet. Shinobu and Tobitaka glared at each other with widen eyes, surprised by Sakuma's huge change in behaviour. Tsunami's mouth was literally agaped, and even stopped walking as he heard the blunet's words. Shinobu's eyes were twinkling in excitement, she could feel her little heart throb because of it. It's amazing how certain people can really bring out other's personalities—and she knew perfectly Fudou could be Sakuma's cure concerning his recent problems. Her plan had only just begun.

"In your dreams. In terms of flirting, I surpass all of you easy." Tsunami quietly informed that no one else had a partner apart from him, but he was hastily shut up by the pinkette's hand. The prideful brunet smirked, bringing his face even more towards the blunet's who didn't back off an inch. "H-Hey, how about we actually start playing?" Tobitaka stumbled over his words, trying to avoid any fights if possible—but what is actually happening anyway? "Yeah let's do that!" Tsunami pulled Shinobu's hand away from his mouth, which gained him an unpleased look from her. "Whoever does a strike first pays everyone a drink," Fudou whispered almost threateningly right before turning his back to Sakuma, his tongue rapidly gliding over his lips.

"You're on."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! See you at the next chapter :)**


	6. Chapter 6 - Only The Beginning

**Author's Note: Hey, I'm back with a (gigantic) chapter! Firstly, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, (or a wonderful day if you don't celebrate) and are having or had a Happy New Year! 2019, here we are ;)**

 **So as you could tell, this chapter is long, _very_ long... So I apologise to everyone who hates long chapters, but I simply couldn't stop writing! It's such a fun bit (at least I think it is hehe you tell me) But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Happy Reading :D**

* * *

The night began smoothly as everyone took part in the game with fun, spending their time laughing and chatting about anything. A tender feeling of success washed over Shinobu as she happily looked at Sakuma open up more and more as time went by. Although it was only the very beginning of this outing, she was glad the blunet was able to feel comfortable quickly around them—especially with Fudou, which she expected was going to be the hardest. However they talked often together, even if it was just a bunch of comebacks to their mutual teasing. It was as if they were fourteen all over again.

"Saku', your turn~!"

"Okay!"

After only making four pins fall over, Tsunami gladly 'passed the baton' over to Sakuma. Yet currently, the surfer was second in terms of points, Fudou being first. They both had strong throws, while Shinobu and Tobitaka relied on aim rather than force.

Tsunami walked to the nearby sofa and sat right beside Shinobu, who had ordered another oreo milkshake. It was cute how her eyes glistened when she looked at her friends, a content smile always sitting on her lips. Sakuma picked up a free ball, moving a strand of his hair out of his eye as he prepared to throw. Tension was rapidly building up inside the blunet as he felt everyone's eyes on his back, his foot slightly trembling. It was his second last go until the game ended, and he had to beat Tsunami first before attempting to even beat Fudou. It was possible, only five points away. It was incredible how focused the blunet became as he got ready to throw, since he generally wouldn't get so worked up in these types of games and would just have fun. But his inner competitive side quickly blossomed when the brunet challenged him. It reminded him when he would play football, where being competitive was the norm.

 **BAM!**

And in one, rapid movement of his arm, Sakuma threw the heavy ball on the lane. "Nice!" Tsunami exclaimed, surprised at how professional the blunet looked when throwing. Shinobu prayed for his ball to continue staying in the middle of the lane; and when it did and knocked down all the pins except for one, she jumped up in joy to cheer for him. _Lucky!_ Sakuma grinned happily—a strike might be hard with his technique, but a spare was possible. His arms opened wide as he saw Shinobu hop towards him. Tsunami cheered as well while Tobitaka a little more quietly—the poor guy seemed exhausted. As he wrapped his arms around the pinkette, Sakuma glimpsed at Fudou who was standing with arms crossed. He was also gazed at him—or Shinobu—with a smile. Now he had definitely surpassed Tsunami, and was two points away from Fudou. But anything could happen in that last round.

As Sakuma got ready for his last go, Shinobu ran back towards her favourite brunet. She tugged at his arm, and completely hugged it as her arms enveloped his own, as well as her chest. The blunet quickly gazed at them as he went to grab a ball, wondering what exactly was their relationship. They really resembled a couple—however it could just be Shinobu being her very tactile self—but it seemed more like flirting when she did it around Fudou than him, or Tobitaka and Tsunami. Sakuma also noticed Fudou appeared to have a big soft spot for the pinkette, which he recognised from years ago when he would hang out with the two of them. Perhaps this friendship grew into something deeper?

"Are you going to throw that or just keep staring at me?"

"E-Eh?"

The blunet's cheeks grew a pretty shade of pastel pink as he realised his "quick look" was more like "staring" at the two. Shinobu just laughed it off, finding it more cute than bothering. "Don't be so mean~ It's only because he's catching up to you that you're like that." She said with another giggle, resting her cheek on his shoulder as she pointed upwards at the scoreboard. "Sakuma being here or not will not change the fact that I end up winning every game," The brunet said with a scoff, beginning to feel slightly irritated at the pinkette continuously defending Sakuma. It just made him want to be meaner to the blunet, just to see how far she'd go.

Once again, Sakuma positioned himself to throw, his heart still throbbing from embarrassment. For once, it was his fault for being so lost in his thoughts about irrelevant things. The blunet squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in and out slowly to be able to concentrate. Just one more pin.

 **BAM!**

* * *

As he gazed outside the large window, the goalkeeper's sapphire eyes wandered over the bright sea of stars in the marine sky. He comfortably rested his chin on his hand while the other fiddled with his black pen, unsure about what to write next unto his lined paper. Truthfully, something had been bothering him since this very morning, but no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, his mind would always remind him. The teen yawned, feeling exhausted after working on his homework for the past hour.

"Hey Genda, you've been looking uneasy since you got here, are you alright?"

The blue-eyed teen suddenly turned his head in the direction of the voice, taken by surprise at the brunet's question. He placed two steaming mugs on the table between them, and sat on the sofa opposite the goalkeeper. The teen silently observed as the brunet proceeded to take off his glasses—which seemed _a lot_ more like goggles—sighing softly as he glared at Genda for an answer. It was really impossible to hide something from him, huh.

"Oh, it's nothing really." Genda laughed nervously as the other immediately looked unconvinced, and he disliked the way he was being scrutinised by him. The bigger teen gave up his pen to position his hands around the warm mug, avoiding the other teen's piercing gaze. There was no point in hiding it from him, anyway.

"It's just… I'm a bit worried for Jirou. He's going out late with Fudou and his friends." Even when knowing and respecting Sakuma's decision, Genda was nervous the blunet was going to regret it. It's just been so long since they've talked, and he wasn't particularly in the right mindset either, which would make him easier to manipulate. It isn't as if these kids were monsters, but it was especially Fudou that Genda was afraid of. The goalkeeper impatiently waited for an answer from Kidou who's lips finally parted from his mug.

"Hm? And you don't like it?"

"Of course I don't!"

 _Really?_ Shouldn't it be obvious to Kidou that Genda was going to be against it? There was no way the brunet forgot how much suffering this idiot caused them. It's because Kidou always considered _him_ as a friend, no matter how difficult the forward can be, isn't it... The goalkeeper has to admit he has incredible patience. He could never be that willing—it seemed impossible for him to talk calmly with that stubborn idiot after all, he pissed him off more than anything. While Genda sulked mentally, Kidou only silently gazed back at him, a smile on his lips.

"Genda, they _have_ changed. Yes, they might not be the most trustworthy, but I think Sakuma will be fine. No actually, I'm sure."

The blue-eyed teen sighed as his friend's words cornered him. They did change throughout the years—fortunately—but that didn't hide the fact they were still careless and got involved in things Sakuma shouldn't be involved with. It's like they're still in their period of teenage rebellion—which is highly likely. The goalkeeper silently glared at his reflection in his mug, a frown forming on his face.

"But _how_ can you be so sure?"

The brunet could only smile at the bigger teen's stubbornness; his bond with the blunet is so pure, they seem like brothers at times. It was more than clear to Kidou now that Fudou was the main cause of the goalkeeper's worry. It was as if Genda acted as an older brother who's just found out his little sister has a boyfriend, and dislikes said boyfriend. Well, the brunet could understand him somehow—if Haruna popped up with a troublemaker like Fudou as her partner, he wouldn't like it one bit. But Genda isn't Sakuma's brother, and Fudou isn't his boyfriend. However, Kidou is glad Sakuma has someone as kind and supportive as Genda for a best friend. Especially after the huge amount of suffering he caused the blunet, he was happy Genda was always by his side to help him get back on his feet. The goalkeeper simply possesses a big heart that he just doesn't have.

"You're a kind person, Genda, really. But you _should_ have more faith in Sakuma. He can very well think by himself as well as know what's best for him. And I'm sure he didn't forget how Fudou behaved—they used to be rather close in the past, right?"

Kidou's words were like daggers to the teen's heart, because they spoke the truth. Now that Genda thought of it, he rapidly realised that he always refused the idea that Sakuma never hated or held a grudge on Fudou for his past actions. Since the goalkeeper cut ties with the forward so long ago, he kept the same image of the latter for years—An asshole to avoid. Genda would only see Fudou's flaws and mistakes, instead of actually seeing how much he has grown and changed. It explains why the goalkeeper hated the fact the blunet wanted to see someone again when they caused him so much pain—because Sakuma had the power to forgive, and move on.

"Yeah, you're right… I'm just an idiot."

"No, just overprotective."

Genda's grip on his mug tightened. Ah, how much he hated that word, but once again, it was true. The goalkeeper always wanted to be the fun friend, but instead he acts like a parent towards the blunet. He's surprised that Sakuma never snapped at him once for being so annoying—except if you count this morning as 'rebelling' against the goalkeeper, which was a polite way to do so. Perhaps after seeing his precious friend suffering from a terrible heartbreak and various other things, it caused Genda to be even more cautious of the blunet's health and well being; therefore more restrictions. But once again, Sakuma just continues on forgiving and getting on with his life, when inside he's hurting.

"You're still going to check up on him tomorrow, aren't you?" The brunet chuckled as Genda nodded. He was easy to read. "But you know, if Fudou does end up hurting Sakuma… He'll _never_ hear the end of it." Genda shivered as he witnessed Kidou's crimson eyes turning so much darker, and see that unpleasant smile painted on his lips. He didn't want to admit it, but at this very instant, the brunet looked awfully frightening.

However, somehow, it also reassured him. Kidou… Still considers Sakuma as a friend he deeply cherishes. But there is no way he views the blunet as the same, right? Now that he's aware Sakuma loves him. Actually knowing Kidou, he probably already knew way before the blunet had the courage to confess.

"Yeah, for sure."

* * *

In the end, everyone was surprised when Tsunami ended up winning. Not only was he the first one to make a strike, but he managed to surpass Sakuma as well as beat Fudou by a point. He was quite joyful about it, since apparently it was the first time he was able to beat Fudou. But with no astonishment, the brunet immediately began sulking, just like a little spoiled child—And having to defend himself from everyone making fun of him wasn't making things any better. At least he was second, when his rival Sakuma, was third.

"But Sakuma, I'm really impressed! You did so good!"

"That's right!"

The blunet smiled, a warm sensation forming in his chest as Tsunami and Shinobu continuously complimented him. Truthfully, Sakuma was also surprised of his own skills, since he was never very good at bowling at all. But he was pretty lucky in this game. Beginner's luck!

After they finished playing, the group decided to settle down in the restaurant area of the building, and happily discussed as they ate. Tobitaka seriously looked exhausted, which concerned Sakuma a little—It was no surprise he ended up last. But the purple head reassured he was fine, just regretted going to bed _way_ too late. At this point, it was Shinobu who lead the discussion along with Tsunami—and since Sakuma sat between them, it felt quite overwhelming.

"Hey Saku', wanna come with us to my place?"

As the other's continued discussing, Shinobu went ahead and invited the blunet, her smile wider than ever. Sakuma was a little surprised she would let him come over at her home this quickly, but that didn't mean he was against it. She then informed they were planning to all hang out at her place afterwards, and she wanted him to come along. Sakuma simply couldn't refuse with her puppy eyes, but something inside him argued it wasn't a good idea.

"I don't think you have a choice either way."

"Shut it, you!"

The blunet laughed at the two's small quarrel—Shinobu and Tobitaka's relationship was honestly very entertaining. But it's funny, since Sakuma never really felt obliged to anything each time the pinkette suggested something. Perhaps Shinobu is just good at persuading people?

"Sure, I'll come." Sakuma couldn't help but grin as he saw Tobitaka's eyes widening in shock, while Shinobu's gleamed with excitement. The pinkette couldn't contain her passion that she ended up hugging Sakuma once again, the purple head looking at Fudou for an explanation.

"Don't look at me."

"Sorry."

The blunet felt a small wave of guilt come over him for believing those made-up rumours people made about them. They were just a bit of an eccentric group—and he liked that about them. À bit of change always felt good. But even if they were as reckless as described, he would have probably still joined anyway.

"Actually, how about we leave now? I already can't wait to play games and stuff!" It was funny how Shinobu's voice suddenly went high pitch with excitement, and her cheeks were decorated with a cherry coloured blush. The surfer completely agreed with her, while the two others didn't seem to mind. Sakuma found that everything was going rather quick—almost too quick. He had so much fun in their game of bowling that it felt like it only lasted ten minutes. And now they're all getting ready to go to Shinobu's place?

"Play games?" Tobitaka raised his eyebrow with question, seeming like the only one who seemed confused about what the pinkette implied by 'games'. He looked at Fudou once more for some kind of explanation, but the brunet just had this frightening smirk on his lips. The purple haired teen didn't like this one bit.

"Well, I don't mind going now." And as the last member gave his agreement, they all prepared to leave. Unfortunately, Tobitaka ended up paying the bill for everyone, to which Sakuma extremely disliked. The brunet informed him it was some sort of 'tradition'' between them that whoever has the least points pays. But the blunet insisted on at least paying his part—was he the only one with a conscience here or what? Although the purple haired teen appreciated Sakuma's offer, he repeated it was simply how things worked between them and assured he didn't mind that much. They are quite harsh between each other, huh—But the blunet just brushed it off it as brutal love, which suited them well.

As they all gathered their things and changed back to their shoes, they all headed out. The blunet grimaced as his face met with the cold air, exhaling smoke as soon as he stepped out. Since they couldn't all fit in a line on the sidewalk, they separated in a group of three—Fudou, Sakuma and Shinobu—and the two others followed behind the them.

"We totally don't feel neglected or anything…"  
"Yeah, you're leaving us out!"

Shinobu giggled as she heard the voices behind her complain, turning her head around to be able to see them. The blunet could only smile at hearing their childish banter—it's been way too long since he went out with a group like that. Or simply going late, to be honest. It was really a pleasant feeling.

They continued walking for a little while, and Shinobu decided to join Tsunami and Tobitaka at the back. The brunet barely spoke a word to Sakuma, and only responded here and then to his friends' comments. Although Sakuma was mostly focused to talking with the three behind him, his eye would always gaze back to the brunet beside him. His cheeks were reddened by the cold, and his blue eyes glimmered like real sapphires. The blunet recalls always being a little envious of Fudou's eyes—they were so full of life, could become so light yet so dark… His were just a boring, typical colour. And one was so horrendous he has to cover it to avoid unnecessary insults or comments.

Just being reminded of that familiar feeling, Sakuma remembered how much he despised nostalgia. It was painful more than anything, desiring to come back to the past. However, It was kind of shocking how much Fudou had changed, yet stayed so alike his past self. The blunet knew it didn't make sense if you haven't experienced the feeling before—and he was confused as to why his chest hurt a little. It was like having a scratch he couldn't itch.

They ended up stopping at a crosswalk, waiting for the green light. The three continued talking, precisely about whether pancakes or crepes were better. The brunet sighed as he wished not to get involved in some way. Such a stupid thing to be arguing about. Sakuma shared that same opinion, however saw it in a more positive light. It _was_ a little funny. As they all finally crossed to the larger sidewalk, everyone grew silent. It was abnormally abrupt, as if they have seen something terrifying and stopped in the middle of their quarrel. But out of nowhere, Shinobu pushed Fudou into Sakuma, both of them now facing the three in confusion.

"What the fuck, Shino'?"

"You two, how about you go have fun somewhere else for a while?"

The blunet's eyes widened in utter shock, confusion more than clearly expressed on his face. Shinobu proceeded to wink with a grin, standing proudly between the two boys who seemed to be agreeing with her. Sakuma blinked multiple times as he tried to work out what was happening. It was just so out of the blue, it felt wrong. The blunet glanced to Fudou, expecting some sort of retort or disagreement— _something_. But all the brunet did was close his eyes and force a smile.

"Suuure."

"What?!"

Sakuma exclaimed, his voice almost echoing in the quiet street they were now in. He switched his gaze from Fudou to Shinobu rapidly, his eyebrows furrowed. It was more than obvious Fudou didn't particularly want to do that, yet he agreed nonetheless. They had to blackmail him or something—there was no way he would of agreed to something like this. It was simply too forced to be true. Then suddenly, Sakuma remembered the pinkette's very distinct wink. _Oh God, they've planned all of this haven't they?!_

"It'll be a perfect opportunity to catch up on each other, right?"

"Couldn't we do that at your place? It's not like it feels like negative ten outside or anything!"

He noticed the brunet biting his inferior lip, as if to stop himself from saying something. Why was he playing along? It was more than obvious that was not something he wanted to do right now. But the pinkette continued insisting it would be great, and went ahead to push Sakuma's back to force him to walk beside Fudou.

"You guys have fun! See ya in a bit~!"

"Hey, wait!"

However trying to stop them was useless. They simply continued walking on their past steps, leaving the two of them behind. Who is being neglected now…?

"Sorry Saku', we just can't tell you wh—Ow, ow that hurts!" Tsunami suddenly spun around, making a megaphone with his hands as he shouted. But both Tobitaka and Shinobu grabbed him and covered his mouth, abruptly cutting him off. It was a funny sight, but confusion still lingered in the blunet's mind. The surfer waved to Sakuma cheerfully nevertheless, and he weakly waved back. It had to be something they couldn't tell Sakuma yet, since it seemed it was what Tsunami tried to say. They are honestly _so_ unpredictable it's scary.

As the three walked further and further away, the blunet turned to face a blank faced Fudou. "Can I just say… What happened just now? I feel like this was so strange it didn't even happen." The brunet could only snicker, this whole situation was just so awkward. But now that they went this far, he couldn't bring himself to ruin the secret; Shinobu would be so disappointed. "Well, as you saw just now they're not very discreet," He said as he glared at their tiny figures behind the blunet, a small grin on his lips. Fudou couldn't really talk about being discreet, since he wasn't that much either—but he thought it could have worked out a little better than this.

"Just what exactly did you guys plan?"

"That I cannot tell, but trust me it isn't anything strange, for once." Sakuma's stare was _extremely_ skeptical—after all, it was hard to believe him after acting this suspicious. And now they were stuck outside, somewhere unknown to the blunet in Inazuma Town.

"Alright I get it, don't look at me like that. You'll find out later." The brunet began walking, his chin digging into his scarf. But how long was later? It seemed as if he could die of hypothermia staying in the cold like that.

"C'mon, let's keep walking."

"Oh yeah, sure." Without knowing where the two were even headed, they began walking to keep their limbs moving in hopes to get warm. Now separated from their friends, the conversation became awfully quiet, and neither of them knew what to say. Fudou didn't particularly want to make any efforts, while the blunet was still really confused about this whole ordeal. However, neither of them wanted to admit it, but they were equally curious about each other—concerning what they've been up to these past years and whatnot. Perhaps Shinobu _was_ right—this could be a great opportunity to learn more about each other.

"Aaaah, mommy…!"

As the two silently passed by a children's park, a high pitched scream of despair caught the blunet's attention. "Uh, what was that?" Just after Sakuma uttered those words, another loud sob was exclaimed. It seemed nearby, and definitely belonged to a young child. Both teens stared at each other intensely, trying to work out what to do about it.

"I think it's coming from the park."

"Let's check it out. No child should be out at this time in the cold!"

So as quickly as they could, both teens went back on their steps to the small gate of the park. There was indeed a small child by the swingset, rubbing tears away as they continued sobbing. From the hello kitty hat the kid wore, they assumed it was a girl, but it was hard to tell from where they were. How could they have missed a crying child when literally passing right by the entrance? The child was by herself, and didn't seem to have even noticed them. The blunet went ahead and jumped over the gate, his instincts taking control.

"Hey, are you okay? Where's your mama?" Sakuma began softly, the little one's head automatically perking up at the sound of his voice. The brunet followed him and walked towards the kid, but stayed behind Sakuma to avoid being too intimidating. He for sure never expected their situation to turn out like that.

"M-Mommy told me not to tawk to stwangers.." The little child was certainly no more than six, with that petite figure and unclear speech. Sakuma smiled; of course it wasn't going to be this easy. He knelt down, perhaps being on the same eye-level would reassure the little one. Fudou completely let Sakuma deal with the kid—he was never really fond of them in the first place, and knew he might end up scaring it even more. At least he attempted to spot for any possible parents in the surroundings. But it was _really_ dark, and with all the trees surrounding them, it was hard to work out if there was even a person out there.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I promise we just want you back home safely. After hearing you crying like that, there's no way I can leave you here. What's your name sweetie?" Hearing the blunet's gentle voice, her face immediately softened a little, and even stepped a little closer. Her face was all red from her sobbing and probably from the cold, too.

"O-Okay… My name is Seiko. What's your name, mister?" Seiko fiddled with her fingers, appearing more nervous than upset now. She had pretty emerald green eyes, and wavy hazel hair. Seiko, huh; a pretty name.

"Nice to meet you, Seiko-chan. You can call me Sakuma, and the grumpy one behind me is Fudou."  
"Hey!"

Seiko giggled, and seeing that smile hit Sakuma with relief. Fudou was quite surprised at how well the blunet was dealing with the kid. His feminine appearance was probably the trick.

However, they both knew this was only the start of something quite terrifying—they had to take responsibility of Seiko now, and finding her mom. There was no way they could abandon her now. Sakuma wanted to make sure she felt safe with them first, and it seemed to be going pretty well.

"Now Seiko-chan, when was the last time you saw your mommy?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Heyo again~ By the way, Seiko is just a random character who contributes to the plot, just so you know! Also, I realised this is probably the fastest update ever! And the longest chapter too! (for now.. maybe)**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading as always, and tell me what you think! :)**


	7. Chapter 7 - Lost & Found

**Author's Note: Hello wonderful readers, welcome back! ;) Goodness, I'm so sorry for this incredibly late update, the latest one yet! Let's say January was a tough month for me to get through, with exams around and also moving houses in between. So it was hard to find time to just chill and write, but here I am! :D**

 **As an apology, here is another long chapter! It was fun to write as usual, although my ultimate favourite was the bit towards the end (and the end!) and you'll know by reading~**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for all the lovely comments/reviews I've received for this fic, it really encourages me to continue writing and do even better! On this note, I hope you have a lovely time reading~**

 **My (very late) Reply to Nemo [Beware very long]: Oh my God, thank you for such a great review once again! I love how you are completely honest to tell me how you feel about my fic, it's genuinely refreshing and lovely to read.**

 **Congrats on getting those amazing grades by the way! Continue working hard :D Seeing your review was the absolute best, it was practically the size of one of my chapters, haha! It makes me so happy that I was able to make you enjoy Shinobu and Tobitaka's characters a lot more, since these two are my children x) I have so many headcanons about them, as well as the others so hopefully I can introduce those into my fic at some point!**

 **Unfortunately I'll have to develop Fudou and Sakuma's relationship a bit more before anything exciting happens ;) I just adore how their personality contrasts, it's a lot of fun to develop and build up. And Sakuma really is a cutie, an angel! So I'm happy I managed to portray him as such~ I seriously feel so blessed from all your praise, even a small detail such as the little girl's name, Seiko, made me glad you liked it too! (Fun fact: It's actually one of my favourite Japanese names!) So thank you, really! I'm glad my fic can make someone their day, because by making their day it makes my day! I'll continue working hard on this fic, and hopefully updates will become faster!**

 **(Tiny note: Seiko has a lisp which I tried to show through writing her speech by how she pronounces it.)**

* * *

"Seiko Fubukida, huh. That's... oddly familiar." The brunet whispered to himself, the lost girl's surname reminding him of a certain ice striker he hadn't seen in a long time. A coincidence, perhaps.

Fudou had taken a seat on one of the orange swings, digging his hands into the warmth of his pockets as his piercing blue eyes gazed at Sakuma. Beside him was Seiko, the lost girl they had only met a short while before. The blunet was still crouched by her, gently enveloping her hand with his own as he comforted the little thing. As his blue orbs analysed Sakuma, it was only then he had noticed how much his ex-teammate's hair had grown. Pastel blue strands cascaded down his whole back now, and Fudou was surprised he hadn't realised earlier—observing as he is. Somehow, that silky hair of his always grabbed the brunet's attention, just like Shinobu's rosy hair. It was neat at all times, even after soccer practice and always seemed so soft—not like his rebellious brown curls which are a nightmare to brush. His blue hair was his trademark; his identity. Fudou would be a little disturbed if he ever cut it short or dyed it, in all honesty.

A sudden unexpected eye contact made the brunet rapidly realise he had scrutinised Sakuma perhaps a little too long. A brownish patch of grass by a tree was now his new view to observe. However, his ears still listened closely to their conversation, which was getting to the interesting part—how Seiko got here.

"Just becose I wanted Miki back, I ran here and mommy left without me…" The green-eyed girl replied, her small, pink lips forming into a pout as if she was holding back tears. Sakuma could only look at her with a saddened expression, her last words making his heart tighten in hurt. However, there was one thing that stood out which the blunet as well as Fudou didn't quite understand.

"Who's Miki, darling?" His features were gentle as ever, perhaps even more so. Although the brunet knew Sakuma was the calm and composed type, he had rarely ever seen this side of him. It was… Nice. Only because that meant Fudou didn't have to take care of the kid, though.

"It's my bunny!" Seiko exclaimed, a trace of a smile in the corners of her lips. She raised her arm upwards, index finger pointing at a tree behind Sakuma. A sudden fear ran through Fudou's veins, and he prayed to the Holy Virgin Tobitaka this wasn't going to turn into some kind of animal rescue. They already had her to deal with, anything else would just be a joke at this point. However, the brunet recalled his bad luck from earlier in the day—maybe it wasn't quite done messing with him yet.

Their eyes gazed towards the direction Seiko pointed, and a bright pink stuffed rabbit caught their attention. Sakuma stood up, rubbing his thighs as his legs felt numb from crouching for so long; he raised an eyebrow when hearing Fudou sigh in relief.

"So that's Miki." The blunet said, turning back around to face Fudou. It almost seemed like a joke at how far up into the tree the bunny was stuck. "Yeah, but the real question is how it got there." The brunet gestured towards the giant tree—perhaps the tallest tree in this playground—while frowning as if he was trying to make a point; that there was no way he was helping getting that back. Both teens thought of the same thing when their eyes met; Seiko was definitely going to ask them to get it back for her. But they both knew there was no way they would be able to reach it, and this wasn't even their main goal right now.

"Pwease get her back!" There it is , the brunet thought. The small girl tucked at Sakuma's coat, her emerald eyes glinting in the moonlight. The blunet bit his lower-lip as he stared back at Seiko's puppy eyes—he was now facing a dilemma; Search for Seiko's mom—which is their main goal—or get her bunny back first. As his mind raced, Sakuma looked back towards Fudou for help, and all the brunet did was slowly shake his head side to side, making every movement slow to make sure his message came across. Sakuma definitely understood and shared his opinion, but looking back at Seiko's desperate face, it was so hard to refuse.

"Pwease." Seiko insisted as they stayed silent, turning to face the brunet who abruptly stopped shaking his head as his eyes met hers. In that small instant, Sakuma couldn't help but smile a little, Fudou's blank face as he almost got caught was priceless. That'll teach him a lesson.

"Well… We can always try, right?" Sakuma's words finally broke the silence, and Seiko's big grin returned ten-folds. As expected, Fudou shot him a glare as cold as ice, and the blunet responded with a sarcastic, angelic smile. The small girl noticed Fudou's grumpy face, and was ready to persuade him at any cost.

"Oh pwease mishter, pwease pwease pwease!" Seiko ran towards the brunet, and Sakuma grinned as he saw Fudou stand up from his swing in fear, almost. "L-Let go!" He exclaimed as the green-eyed girl gripped on his leg, pulling his jeans down as she begged him to co-operate in Miki's rescue. Little did she know, her actions almost undressed Fudou if he hadn't grabbed her hands in time to stop her. In the background, Sakuma was having the time of his life as he laughed at the brunet being 'bullied' by a five year old. Small children seem to be his worst weakness, huh—at least one of them. "Don't laugh!" Fudou ordered, but that only made the blunet burst in laughter even more, his palm resting atop his mouth. Seiko continued her chants while jumping around and having a tight grip on Fudou, and the brunet's fist tightened as he was about to speak.

"Agh, fine, fine! But just once, ok? Then we're getting you home!" Fudou groaned, finally succeeding in getting rid of Seiko's claws out of his leg. He only surrendered because he was tired of all this, and at this point just wanted to go to bed.

"Mishter I love yooouuhuu!" The green-eyed girl shouted in joy, assaulting Fudou's leg again but with a tight hug this time, showing how grateful she was. After calming down from his uncontrollable laughter, a genuine smile appeared on the blunet's lips as he looked at the adorable view before him. Not only was Fudou's clumsiness around Seiko entertaining, it was also a little cute as it honestly seemed the brunet tried not to be an ass and act all smug. There was some good development throughout the years—still need more work on his attitude in general, but right now it was enough to make the blunet happy.

"Well, should we get Miki back, then?" Sakuma asked, looking at the two with a smile. Instantly, Seiko got out of the brunet's way and stepped aside, yelling a high pitched "Yes!" as she threw her right arm in the air. Fudou sighed, his blue orbs focusing back onto Sakuma, and began sulking since all he did was making fun of him while the brat attacked him. However, when the brunet witnessed Sakuma's soft, reddened features from the cold, blue hair swaying in the wind and his gentle gaze, all anger suddenly disappeared from his mind. It was as if he was unable to snap at him for laughing a bit, when really he hadn't heard his laugh in so long. Fudou bit his tongue as something unknown yet so familiar pricked at his chest.

"Hello? Earth to Fudou...?" The brunet's vision immediately became clear again as his ex-teammate's words broke him out of his strange daydream. Sakuma was now closer to him, waving his hand in front of his face. Seiko was beside him, her head tilted to the side as she stared. What had just happened?

"O-Oh, yeah..." Fudou muttered, his voice slightly shaky. His eyes automatically diverted to something else, the pair of eyes glaring at him putting him off.

"You kind of spaced out there! C'mon let's get to work." Sakuma chuckled, and began walking closer to the large tree which held Miki hostage. Fudou watched as Seiko followed behind him like a little duckling following its mother, before joining them near the trunk. He was unsure at what had happened in his mind just now, but Fudou thought forgetting about it would be better instead of torturing himself to understand.

"So, I think I got a way to get Miki back, but it's a little risky." Sakuma admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck, provoking curiosity in Fudou. "Dangerous is my middle name, so I'm in either way." The brunet smirked, and Sakuma rolled his eyes at his silly joke, although he might have been slightly amused by it.

What could go wrong in doing something as innocent as retrieving a girl's bunny anyway?

* * *

"Hey, you really think these two will be alright?" Tobitaka whispered into the pinkette's ear, unable to stop thinking about the fact they had just ditched two of their friends behind. In truth, he was probably more afraid to leave Sakuma with Fudou alone, outside, at night. That idiot better not mess up, otherwise their plan would be ruined.

"Of course they will! Ya need to trust Aki' a lil' more, y'know?" Shinobu grinned, waving her index finger around as if giving the purple-head a scolding. Tobitaka grimaced at his friend's cheerful reply, while Tsunami chuckled. "It's only for a little bit!" The surfer winked, and Tobitaka forced a small smile. A little bit? It been almost half an hour since they split up. These two were a bit naive, or unaware. Perhaps he was the problem, being pessimistic and all.

Either way, Tobitaka felt some remorse leaving them behind, especially Sakuma, even if he knows it was worth it for their surprise they had prepared meanwhile. Just you wait, Sakuma.

* * *

"Why did we think that was a good idea again…?" The brunet grunted, the weight on his shoulders growing increasingly heavier. His toes were at breaking point from the pressure they were under, almost shattering like ice from how cold they felt.

"No backing out now!" Sakuma snapped back as his right arm was extended to the fullest in an attempt to reach a pink bunny hanging on a branch. Miki.

"You're so close!" Not far from them was Seiko, trying her best to encourage her heroes as she glared at them with hope in her eyes. The blunet squinted as his arm was getting tired from being stretched for the past two minutes, the bunny only seeming to get further away from his fingertips. Suddenly, he felt the brunet's grip on his thighs tightening—he must be at his limit too.

"Fucking… Hurry up!" Fudou whispered his 'fucking' just loud enough for the blunet to hear, before yelling as he began to not even feel his legs anymore. Let's say the forward as well as his ex-teammate rapidly regretted their choice in position. It definitely made them gain in height, since Sakuma was currently sitting on Fudou's shoulders—But the pain and their shaky balance probably wasn't worth it for a simple stuffed bunny.

"I'm trying! A-Ah!" Sakuma gasped as he felt the brunet pushing himself as well as him upwards, a sudden fear of height grasping at his stomach. This was the brunet's last effort—if Sakuma doesn't get Miki in this slim chance he had given him, he gives up. The blunet's eye widened as his fingers could now fully reach the bunny, realising what Fudou had done. He mentally thanked the brunet for not only his determination, but accepting his risky idea. Fudou could show himself dedicated, and he knew that.

"Seikoooo! Seiko, where are you darling!?"

As Sakuma grabbed one of Miki's limbs, Fudou began stumbling backwards as he lost his balance. That last push was probably the cause, but right after that, the brunet could have sworn he had heard a voice—and not any voice. Seiko quickly covered her eyes, afraid to witness them falling terribly.

"D-Don't drop me!" In a rush of fear, the blunet gripped onto Fudou's curls as he stayed still as a rock. "It's fine, I got you. Did you just hear that, by the way?" The brunet said calmly, his feet now flat to the ground. The green-eyed girl peeked through the gaps of her fingers, content to find out they survived. All three grew silent, and Sakuma could feel his cheeks go red as blood rushed to his head from fear, but especially from embarrassment.

"Can I get down?" The blunet whispered as he poked Fudou's head. "Oh, yeah. You heavy." The brunet said jokingly, and Sakuma pulled hard on some of his curls as a personal revenge. Although he couldn't see his face, the blunet knew Fudou was likely smirking to himself right now, and that could only get on his nerves.

Seiko bounced around them excitedly as she couldn't wait to hug Miki, the brunet crouching to the ground to let Sakuma hop off him. "Aaah, Miki! Thank you so much mishter, thank you!" Seiko giggled as she finally reunited with her treasured bunny, a sense of relief washing over Sakuma and Fudou's minds. However, while the blunet happily cheered with Seiko, Fudou gazed back towards the trees and shrubs of the park; he had definitely heard a voice. It was faint, but it was calling out Seiko's name. Perhaps her mother was closer than they thought.

"What was that thing you heard, by the way?" Sakuma suddenly went back unto the topic as he caught Fudou glaring, wondering what he could have heard that he didn't.

"A woman's voice. It has to be Seiko's mother," Fudou replied, looking back at the blunet who was blowing into his hands in an attempt to warm them up. "Well, let's go look then, I trust your hearing. Come here sweetie." Sakuma picked up Seiko into his arms, and she rested her head onto his shoulder as her eyelids began to be heavier and harder to keep open. Fudou nodded, and they began walking towards the gate, but Fudou couldn't help but look back. Did the voice come from there?

"Did mishter hear my mommy?"

"Yes, I'm sure she's looking for you." Sakuma replied softly, stroking her hazel curls as he walked. The brunet looked at them with a small smile, glad to see things were getting in order, although he wouldn't admit it. At this point, after everything that happened to Fudou today, he just wanted to go into his broken bed and sleep for the whole of Sunday.

"Seiko! Please, God, Seiko!"

This time, it was clear enough for all three to hear the desperate cry of a woman screaming her daughter's name. The two teens instantly made eye-contact, while Seiko's eyes widened in realisation.

"It's mommy's voice! Mommyyy!" The small girl began yelling back, her high pitched scream almost echoing in the street. Inazuma Town really was like a deserted village at night, it was nearly scary at times. Sakuma jogged towards the direction of the voice, and Fudou was right beside him.

"Seiko?! Seiko where are you!?"

The voice grew louder as the three crossed the road, Fudou's eyes stuck on a woman running down the opposite street. She wore a gray coat and chocolate brown boots, blond hair moving side to side as she ran.

"Mommy! I'm right here! Mommy's over there, see!" Seiko began screaming and fussing in Sakuma's arms as she caught sight of the woman, pointing at her since she recognised her mother.

"Seiko!"

The woman shouted back as her eyes finally met with her daughter's, running towards them with outstretched arms. Sakuma continued running to her as well, and Fudou followed his steps. At last all that yelling was finally brought to a stop as the woman grabbed Seiko into her arms. That was chaotic, the brunet thought, not expecting to find her this way.

"Oh my darling…" The mother whispered into her daughter's ear as she pulled Seiko closer, feeling nothing but relief. She had been so absorbed by finding Seiko, she barely even noticed the two teenagers beside her until the blunet spoke up.

"I'm so glad." Sakuma exhaled a sigh of relief as he looked at their heartwarming reunion, and the woman's head perked up. "Thank you so much!" She stood up, being on the verge of tears her first instinct was to grab the blunet into a hug, to which the forward laughed at for Sakuma's surprised 'yelp'.

"I-It's alright, I'm happy we found you." The blunet said calmly, a little surprised from the sudden hug, but hugged her back anyway.

"Look mommy, they even got Miki back!" In a rapid motion, Seiko dangled Miki in the air as if showing off a trophy. The mother let go of the blunet, and let out a chuckle at the sight of the familiar bunny. "That's amazing! We tried many times to get her back, but we gave up, she was really stuck. How did you do it?" Both teenagers automatically avoided answering the question, looking at each other as they went on a small stuttering mess. When they began forgetting about it, they just had to be reminded of that awkward technique they've used. "Seiko will tell you." The brunet finally said, and Sakuma nodded in agreement.

They watched as Seiko and her mother exchanged kisses and hugs, and the small girl apologised to her mom for running off. At this point, her mother seemed to be unable to be angry at her daughter, and she patted her head lovingly.

"I can't thank you enough for taking care of my baby." She repeated, wiping with her finger an upcoming tear of appeasement. And this time, she pulled both of their arms towards her to hug both of them, a smile on her lips. It was now the blunet's turn to make fun of Fudou's funny reaction to the surprise hug.

As time ticked on and more stars gradually appeared in the sky, Seiko's mother had explained everything to her daughter's saviours, and even joked around with them a little. She was a charming woman, and had good humour, which Fudou respected. Her full name was Fuyuka Fubukida, and it hit the brunet as well as Sakuma with familiarity once more—this time her first name reminded them of a gentle girl they hadn't seen in years.

According to Fuyuka, they were walking back home and Seiko's baby brother was being fussy; therefore all of her attention went on him, which explains why she didn't see Seiko running off to the park.

In the end, everyone was glad this scary experience was brought to a close—Sakuma was happy for Seiko and her mother, while Fudou was glad this whole ordeal was just done and over with. It seemed Fuyuka had taken a liking to the two, since before she left she handed them two of her business cards so they could contact her anytime. She worked in a bank, and although neither Sakuma or Fudou saw themselves call her, it was a nice action.

"Bye-bye Sakuma-san! Bye-bye Fudou-san!" Seiko waved at the two, Sakuma's heart tightening a little as she pronounced his surname for the first time. The brunet stood beside him as he watched them leave as well, waving back at Seiko along with Sakuma. A silence quickly filled the air as they were now out of their sight, and the blunet fiddled with a strand of his hair. He wondered if all if this really happened; it felt so unreal.

"So... Wanna go back to that playground?" The brunet requested since that was the only area he could think of to waste time at.

"Huh? Shouldn't we be going to Shinobu's place by now?"

"Nah, she has to text me when we can come over, and guess what? I have no messages from her yet." Fudou smirked, fishing his phone out of his pocket and showing his lockscreen with a lack of notifications Not only did this confuse the blunet as to why Fudou seemed so joyful about this, but it also scared him somewhat since it also just enforced the fact all of this was planned.

"Ugh… Well, fine. I don't mind." Sakuma sighed, and Fudou was pleased he agreed easily since he could not be bothered to walk into some cafe or restaurant—it'd make his time with Sakuma more awkward, he just knows.

This time as the two walked side by side, they talked to each other without problem now that some sort of barrier was broken between them. And that was all thanks to Seiko. She broke the tension between them, and now things flowed better as they talked. Sakuma gave his thanks to the emerald-eyed girl he knew he wouldn't forget in a long time.

"So I heard you had a girlfriend not so long ago?" The blunet began as they've arrived, jumping over the gate once again. "Not long ago? That was like months away!" The forward replied as he in turn also got over the tiny gate. A giggle escaped Sakuma's lips as he sat on the swing Fudou had sat on earlier, his fingers loosely wrapped around the ice metal chains. The brunet sighed as he sat on the swing beside Sakuma.

"Wait, how did you even find that out?" Fudou eyes widened in curiosity, turning his head so he could look at Sakuma. He begun swinging, a grin plastered on his face. "Shinobu, of course! You better watch out, because she's so going to tell me your secrets." Sakuma teased, taking a little joy in it after so much tension had dropped. "I'm not even surprised, that blabbermouth." Fudou groaned, planning to have a talk with her as soon as possible. Now that he felt at ease, the brunet dug into his left pocket for a white packet he hadn't touched in a while. He took it out and opened it, taking one of the thin cylinders out and began searching for his lighter. Sakuma could tell the brunet was fiddling with something, but he was unable to tell what from swinging back and forth. Therefore he came to a stop, his eye widened in surprise as his brain finally registered what he saw.

"You smoke?!" The blunet slapped his mouth with his palm as he realised he had shouted that a little too loud. However the brunet had expected that reaction, and smirked. "Seems like Shinobu didn't tell you about that , huh. Yeah, I do. But somehow I'm not really addicted—Tsunami says it's because I don't breathe it in right or some shit like that." The blunet watched closely as Fudou put the cigarette between his lips, trying to light the end with his green coloured lighter. "Then why do you keep trying?" He blinked, and Fudou let out a relieved sigh as he was finally able to light up the end of his cigarette. "I don't know, don't you have something you should stop doing too?" Smoke exhaled his mouth, and Sakuma could suddenly hear his heart beat loud into his ears. The brunet was surely not referencing what Sakuma was thinking, but somehow it hit hard into his chest, as if it was meant to reference that.

"I wasn't trying to make you stop particularly," The blunet replied, his gaze now focused to his feet. "I hope so, because if you do, give up now. I'm kinda in a phase where I don't really give two shits anymore." Although Fudou said this in a serious tone, and was surely meant to be taken at a certain level of seriousness, the blunet could only laugh. "Well, aren't you in that phase every day?" They both chuckled, the brunet somewhat agreeing with him. Fudou placed his cigarette back into his mouth, sucking the toxic substances into his lungs.

"I hate to admit it… But, I wish I was a little more like you, sometimes." Their eyes met, and the brunet's were wide in confusion. There was no way, no way Sakuma Jirou had just said that.

"Not entirely! Just like, the 'don't give two shits' part... I wish I cared less about what people think, and stuff…" Sakuma confessed as he looked back at his feet, stepping on some dead grass as the smoke of Fudou's cigarette invaded his nostrils. The smell reminded him of the times when he was a kid, and he would play soccer in the backyard with his dad. He would always have a smoke after that.

"Hmm, yeah, I agree. You should just take a step back from the shit in your life sometimes, it's good for your soul." And once again like a never ending cycle, he placed the cigarette back to his mouth while Sakuma glared at him with surprise. It's been ages since he had a serious talk just like this with him, and each time it would shock him how mature he'd be during those instants. It was pleasant, and the blunet would always feel good after those types of talks.

"I heard… You also had a boyfriend…?" Sakuma whispered, wondering if that was alright to mention, but he did anyway, didn't he. "How much did she tell you about my love life, that brat!" The brunet yelled, although it seemed to be at himself, since he knew how Shinobu was and should have been more careful. The blunet laughed; Shinobu had spilt quite a lot about him somehow, and each time it'd look as if she was excited to do so. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stop mentioning all of the things the pinkette had to him about Fudou. But for some reasons, knowing the fact he had a—or multiple—boyfriends in the past made him feel a little closer to the brunet spiritually.

"Well, yeah, I'm bi. Boys are cool too, and I bet you know what I mean." Fudou sneered at the blunet beside him, and took even more enjoyment out of it as he witnessed his face growing redder each second. "Wh-Whatever!" Sakuma turned his head away at the speed of light, although he knew he had already seen his red cheeks. His ex-teammate's delightful expression made the brunet chuckle, making him struggle tinto finishing up his cigarette. Times like this felt great, and both of them were glad they decided to come back here.

A calming silence now filled the park, the two were not even waiting for Shinobu's message anymore, and simply enjoyed each other's company. They discussed about various things, and sometimes another silence would come along, but it wasn't awkward, or unpleasant—It felt soft as a feather. It surprised Sakuma the most, since he mostly only felt this way with Genda and even Kidou, at times. Yet it was indeed a little different, since this time it was spent with someone he thought he was close to hating, when really Sakuma never hated Fudou at all. Sure he could be an asshole, but he also had that sentimental side of him which made him more human and relatable. The blunet was glad that part of him had stuck to Fudou, and although it was hidden most of time, it was still there.

Ding!

The two glared at each other, the sudden sound surprising them. Fudou took out his phone once more, and Sakuma leaned in to be able to see as well.

It's always when we don't expect something, that it happens, it seems.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you once again for reading! See you soon (hopefully) for the next chapter~! :)**


	8. Chapter 8 - Surprise!

**Author's Note:** **Well... I'm just in time for At Last's 1 year anniversary! Yup, it has been a year already since I decided to upload the first chapter to the internet... Thank you so much for sticking with this fic, and sticking with me—Because it's not the end yet!**

 **But what a horrible hiatus this was... Worst one yet. But as you may know, life can really get in the way sometimes and I either didn't have the time to write, or the motivation. Hopefully since it's the summer holidays where I live, I will have more time to write and take care of myself.**

 **At Last I am back ;)**

 **Thank you so much to Nemo, Digidestined of Justice and Catmeow123 for your lovely reviews, they motivated me and made me feel so, SO happy! So thank you so much, and hopefully you enjoy this sweet and short chapter. :)**

 **Happy Reading!**

* * *

 **Shinobu Takanashi, sent 19:48**

 **We're readyyy ;) Come quick!**

* * *

"So, are you scared?" The brunet smirked with childish mockery present on his features, his eyes focused onto the trembling Sakuma beside him. They had been outside for a long time after all, and the blunet was surprised he hadn't died of hypothermia already. "A little, yeah." Sakuma admitted with a small smile—although Fudou reassured him it wouldn't be something 'bad', the blunet couldn't help but feel nervous about their mysterious plan. He knew what these reckless people could do, and they were usually not pretty things.

"You're really cold, huh." Fudou quitely muttered as he noticed Sakuma holding his arms tightly, his cheeks red from the cold. Good thing Shinobu's house was always as hot as a volcano—even _he_ was starting to reach his limit with this stupidly low temperature. Then suddenly, a silly idea came up in Fudou's mind. Smirking, the brunet pulled on Sakuma's slender arm to bring him closer—he couldn't help but let out a chuckle when the blunet yelped in surprise.

"Hey, what the hell was that?" Sakuma furrowed his eyebrows angrily, wanting an explanation from the brunet. But the sudden, cold contact of Fudou's hand enveloping his own snapped him out of his frustration.

"Wh-What are you…?"

"I'm gonna warm you up."

Their gaze met momentarily, and Sakuma was at a complete loss for words. But before he could even think of what to say or do, Fudou suddenly began running down the street while pulling him along with a strong force.

 _So that's what he meant by "warm up"?!_

"What the fuck Fudou?!" His words were aggressive yet his giggly voice completely tore down the threat within them. Sakuma didn't even notice when he had started laughing, or smiling at all. It was so dumb and strange, but at the same time Sakuma wasn't planning on letting him go either. Good thing most of the streets were completely deserted, otherwise people would really think they've gone insane.

"Come on, is that how fast you can go? You sure lost your speed, Sakuma!" Fudou exclaimed with a large grin on his lips, glancing back to the blunet behind him. But the forward quickly regretted his words as Sakuma quickened his pace; he sure disliked being teased with. "Sorry, what were you saying?!" The blunet attempted copying his rival's irritating, prideful smirk, shouting just as loud back without a care in the world. He didn't know for sure what it was, but being with Fudou really made his inner playful self show—it was almost like he turned into a different person...

After a few more minutes of racing down the empty streets, the two finally came to a stop nearby small and colourful apartments. Both inhaled and sighed in exhaustion, a smile plastered on their faces as they looked back at each other.

"Not bad, not bad…" Fudou managed to say in between his breaths, gaining a small laugh from the blunet. "What do you mean _'not bad'_?" Sakuma questioned him with a hoarse voice, proud to see he was still faster than the brunet after all this time. It had only been around a year since Sakuma stopped practicing soccer seriously after all; his athletic talents couldn't vanish that quickly. A content smile stretched his rosy lips while Fudou glared at him in silence.

 _Incredible! Has_ _the_ _prideful Fudou Akio admitted defeat?_

But what Sakuma really didn't know, was that the brunet was just plainly checking him out. It was crazy how similar Sakuma was to his younger self, yet one thing that was different... Was how much prettier he had become.

"Well, should we keep going?" Sakuma approached the brunet, looking at the apartments on the opposite street. Fudou smiled childishly at himself—luckily for him, Sakuma was way too oblivious. "Yeah let's go. Shinobu's house is in this neighborhood." The blunet's eyes lit up at hearing those words, happy to hear they were finally almost there. At least he didn't have to put up being freezing cold, now.

The two teens began walking side by side normally again, exchanging small talk as they passed house after house. Sakuma could still barely believe he had joined into Fudou's shenanigans—perhaps he was much more of a child at heart than he thought.

"Huh...?"

Upon feeling cool fingers wrap around his hand once again, the blunet threw a glare at the culprit. "What, _again?_ " Sakuma said amusingly, but he was greeted with Fudou's flirtatious blue eyes. "Nah, I just wanna hold your hand." His voice was smooth and quiet, as if he only desired Sakuma to hear him—and the blunet did not like this kind of seductive exchange one bit. Or more like, he was not ready for it.

"O-Oh, okay…" Sakuma turned his head away as he began feeling his face burning, his cheeks especially. It was hard to tell if Fudou was purposefully flirting here, or just joking around with him like an asshole… The latter seemed more likely, but... _That_ gaze…

"Hey, we're here."

Upon hearing Fudou's words, Sakuma automatically raised his head to face what kind of house Shinobu lived in. "W-Wait what, it's huge!" The blunet's jaw was automatically left agape at the sight of the pinkette's house, confused and amazed all at the same time. Most houses they walked past were fairly small, so seeing such a pretty and large looking house in the middle was obviously strange. "I know right? That's why her house is our meeting place." The brunet explained while entering through the small gate along with Sakuma, their hands still linked together.

 _So this is their meeting place… That makes sense._

There was light coming out from multiple windows, but it was impossible to see since curtains or objects blocked the view. The blunet gulped as his nervousness suddenly came back all at once. Unconsciously, he squeezed Fudou's hand harder. The brunet smiled upon feeling the tighter grip, knowing what was _really_ awaiting him. Sakuma's heart seemed to have sank into his stomach as Fudou inserted the key into the lock. One single anti-clockwise turn, and—!

 **"HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY SAKUMA!"**

As soon as the front door was opened, the two couldn't even utter a word as they were suddenly drenched in confettis by three familiar, colourful figures who were waiting right at the entrance for them. It was none other than Shinobu, Tobitaka and Tsunami—all wearing cliche pointy celebration hats, and a now empty large party popper in hand.

"What just…" Sakuma looked at them with confusion, still taken aback by what had just happened. "Did you really think I would let your 18th birthday go uncelebrated?" Shinobu grinned ear to ear as she approached the two boys, firmly hugging them. Her slender body felt so warm—she felt just like a hot cloud with that fluffy jumper of hers.

"Thank you so much, Shinobu, I… I don't know what to say," Sakuma's voice was shaky with emotion, almost feeling teary-eyed from this—no one had organised something like this for his birthday. After a couple more seconds Shinobu pulled herself away, her smile still plastered on her lips.

"Happy late birthday, Sakuma."

The blunet stared at Fudou in surprise as he uttered the same words but with a calmer tone, his free hand removing the colourful confettis out of his blue hair. A small cherry coloured blush decorated Sakuma's face as his gaze made him feel all tingly inside—it was such a strange sensation, but it wasn't like Sakuma hated it at all.

"Sakuuu'! Sorry for leaving you all alone with _Aki_ , it must have been hard!" Tsunami couldn't hold in anymore and jumped outside, grasping Sakuma tightly into his arms. The blunet was forced to let go Fudou's hand as Tsunami's entire weight was pretty much thrown onto him, reminding him of their earlier meeting.

"Actually, it was pretty exciting, if you ask me." The brunet smirked as his words caused each of his friends a completely different reaction—Shinobu was delighted, Tsunami was surprised, Tobitaka held his face in his hand in disappointment, and last but definitely not least… Sakuma was embarrassed.

"Well how about you tell us all about it inside! Come on, chop, chop!" Shinobu felt herself fire up all of a sudden, wanting to know more about their 'exciting' adventure. And with that, everyone entered her house cheerfully and slammed the cold away. "It's so warm in here…" Sakuma muttered quietly, feeling himself melt into the sweet warmth of Shinobu's house.

"Let me take your coat,"

"Oh, thanks."

Tobitaka kindly took care of his coat and scarf, and Tsunami had taken the job of removing the last couple confettis off of him. It was a little strange to see all of them centering their attention on him—the feeling felt lovely yet a little odd at the same time.

 _So... This was their plan all along._ Sakuma felt a little guilty for expecting something devilish from them.

"My gosh, you're freezing!" The pinkette gasped as she placed her hands onto Fudou's cheeks, cupping his face. "I wonder who's fault that is," The brunet sighed, to which Shinobu pouted childishly at—but her smile quickly returned as he proceeded to grab her into his arms. Glancing at them curiously, Sakuma could only be even more convinced that these two were lovers. They were certainly not like every couple out there, but the vibe between them felt really romantic at times. "Come, we'll show you around!" Tsunami smiled happily, grabbing the blunet's hand to lead him out from the cramped hallway.

"Sure!"

"Hey, wait for us!" Shinobu exclaimed as she saw the rest of her friends walk away, dragging Fudou by the arm. The room they entered was beautifully lit in warm orange lights, and a large cake covered in white and blue icing sat in the middle of a big table. "You've prepared all of this for me…?" Sakuma asked in disbelief as he continued analysing the elegant room—balloons, a cake and upbeat music in the background… He felt like he was going back to his childhood years.

"Yep! It took some time but it's so worth it for that reaction," Shinobu explained with a smile, poking his cold cheek amusingly. "I'm so grateful... Thank you, all of you." Sakuma looked around the room to every person, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. All of them… Even Fudou, who he had judged wrongly many times… Did all of this for him.

"You're welcome Saku'! You're a precious member of the gang now too, y'know!" Tsunami grinned cheerfully while Tobitaka nodded in agreement. His words made the blunet feel all warm inside; it's been awhile since he felt this happy. Even Fudou's genuine smile and communicative gaze was enough for Sakuma to feel fulfilled.

"So, now... Should we get started…?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading, really, it means a lot. :)**

 **This certainly is not my best chapter, and I will decide later if I am going to re-write it or not... It will be the exact same, don't worry, just... Better written. x)**

 **See you soon, hopefully!**


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